BSnyOO .H65 f845 V7A ^
Hook, Walter Farquhar, 179fi
1875. . ^'
An ecclesiastical biograph5^
AN
ECCLESIASTICAL BIOGRAPHY,
CONTAINING THE
ILtbes of Ancient ffat^tx^ anti iiHo^crn HPibines,
[NTER9PEKSED WITH NOTICES OF
BERETZCS AND SCHISMATXCS,
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN EVERY AGE.
WALTER FARQUHAR HOOK, D.D.
VICAR OF LEEDS.
VOL. IV.
LONDON :
F. AND J. RIVINGTON ;
PARKER, OXFORD ; J. AND J. J. DEIGHTON, CAMBRIDGE ;
T. HARRISON, LEEDS.
1848.
G. TRAWSHAW, TRINTER, LEEDS.
PREFACE.
The present Volume of the Ecclesiastical Biography is
perhaps the most interesting of the series, as the Reader
will at once perceive, when he refers to the names of
those Fathers and Divines of whom the Biography is
given.
Several important portions of Ecclesiastical Histoi-y
are, under some of the Lives, brought before the Reader:
in the Life of St. Cyprian he will observe the freedom
of the Primitive Church, from the dominion of the see
of Rome ; in the Lives of St. Clement, St. Chrysostom,
Epiphanius, and Dionysius, he will gain some insight
into the practices of the Early Church ; and he will find
a History of the Nestorian Controversy under the head of
St. Cyril of Alexandria, a controversy of much importance
in the present age, when many are unconsciously Nesto-
rian s, who account themselves Orthodox.
The History of our Church before the Reformation is
illustrated in the Lives of Cuthbert, Columba, Dunstan,
St. Edmund, Courtney, and Colet ; and of the early years
of the Reformation, in that of Cranmer. The Articles on
Dominic, Erasmus, Eck, and Compton, will be interest-
iDg to those who are investigating the character and
pretensions of Romanism ; and in the History of the
Remonstrants, which is given in the Life of Ej^iscopius,
is displayed the persecuting and intolerant temper which
seems to be inherent in Calvinism.
For the Life of St. Cyprian, the Reader is indebted to
the Rev. G. A. Poole. For the other Lives the Compiler
is responsible.
The Work is still continued in Numbers, as many
persons prefer receiving it as a Monthly Periodical, in
which shape they can easily peruse the whole work.
The object of this Work is to supply the Reader with
an Ecclesiastical History, in a form which will admit of
easy reference. Although the labour is of a humble
character, still it is considerable ; and the contribution
of Articles, by persons competent to prepare them, will
be gratefully received, as the work has become much
more extensive than was originally contemplated, and has
hitherto been conducted without help.
VICARAGE, LEEDS
Jan. 12th, 1848.
ECCLESIASTICAL BIOGRAPHY.
CHILLINGWORTH, WILLIAM.
William Chillingworth was the son of William
Chillingworth, citizen, afterw^ards mayor of Oxford, and
was born there in October, 1602. He was baptized on the
last of that month, the celebrated William Laud, then
fellow of St. John's College, being one of his sponsors.
After he had been educated in grammar learning at a
private school in Oxford, he was admitted a scholar of
Trinity College, in 1618, and was elected fellow in 1628.
He studied divinity and geometry, and showed some skill
in versification. The conversation and study of the uni-
versity scholars, in his time, turned chiefly upon the con-
troversies between the churches of England and Rome,
occasioned by the liberty allowed the Romish priests by
James I. and Charles I. ; several of whom lived at, or
near, Oxford, and made frequent attempts to pervert the
young men. Of these Jesuits, the most famous was John
Fisher, alias John Perse ; and Chillingworth being ac-
counted a very ingenious man, Fisher earnestly sought his
society. Their conversation soon turned upon the points
controverted between the two Churches, but particularly
on the necessity of an infallible living judge in matters of
faith. Chillingworth unable to answer the argimients of
the Jesuit on this head, was brought to believe that this
judge was to be found only in the Church of Rome, which,
VOL IV. A
2 CHILLINGWORTH.
therefore, must be the true Church, out of which there
could be no salvation. Upon this he forsook the com-
munion of the Church of England, and embraced the
Romish religion. In order to secure hi^ conquest, Fisher
persuaded Chillingworth to go to the college of the Jesuits
at Douay ; and he was desired to set down in writing the
motives or reasons which had engaged him to embrace the
Romish rehgion. But his godfather, Laud, who was then
Bishop of London, hearing of this affair, and being ex-
tremely concerned at it, wrote to him ; and, Chillingworth's
answer expressing much moderation, candour, and impar-
tiality, that prelate continued to correspond with him, and
to press him with several arguments against the doctrine
and practice of the Romanists. This set Chillingworth
upon a new enquiry, which had the desired effect. But
the place where he was not being suitable to the state of a
free and impartial enquirer, he resolved to come back to
England, and left Douay in 1631, after a short stay there.
Upon his return into England, he was received with great
kindness and affection by Bishop Laud, who approved his
design of retiring to Oxford, of which university that pre-
late was then chancellor, in order to complete the im-
portant work he was upon, a free enquiry into religion.
At last, after a thorough examination, the protestant prin-
ciples appearing to him the most agreeable to the holy
Scripture and reason, he declared for them ; and having
fully discovered the sophistry of the arguments, which had
induced him to go over to the Church of Rome, he wrote
a paper about the year 1634 to confute them, but did not
think proper to publish it. This paper is now lost ; for
though we have a paper of his upon the same subject,
which was first published in 1687, among the additional
discourses of Chillingworth, yet it seems to have been
written on some other occasion, probably at the desire of
some of his friends.
That ChillingwTjrth's return to the Church of England
was owing to Bishop Laud, appears from that prelate's
CHILLINGWORTH. 3
appeal to the letters, which passed between him and
Chillingworth ; which appeal was made in his speech
before the Lords at his trial, in order to vindicate himself
from the charge of Popery. " Mr. Chillingworth s learn-
ing and ability/' says he, " are sufficiently known to ail
your lordships. He was gone and settled at Douay. My
letters brought him back, and he lived and died a de-
fender of the Church of England. And that this is so,
your lordships cannot but know; for Mr. Prynne took
away my letters, and all the papers which concerned him,
and they were examined at the committee."
As Chillingworth, in forsaking the Church of England,
as well as in returning to it, was solely influenced by a
love of truth, so, upon the same principles, even after his
return to Protestantism, he thought it incumbent upon
him to re-examine the grounds of it. This appears by a
letter he wrote to Dr. Sheldon, containing some scruples
he had about leaving the Church of Rome, and returning
to the Church of England : and these scruples, which he
declared ingenuously to his friends, seem to have occa-
sioned a report, but it was a very false and groundless
one, that he had turned papist a second time, and then
protestant again. His return to the protestant religion
making a great deal of noise, he became engaged in seve-
ral disputes with those of the Romish religion ; and par-
ticularly with Mr. John Lewgar, Mr. John Floyd a Jesuit,
who went under the name of Daniel, or Dan. a Jesu,
and Mr. White. Mr. Lewgar, a great zealot for the
Church of Rome, and one who had been an intimate
friend of our author, as soon as he heard of his return to
the Church of England, sent him a very angry and
abusive letter ; to which Chillingworth returned a mild
and affectionate answer, in the course of which he
observes, that it seems to him very strange and not far
from a prodigy, that this doctrine of the Roman churches
being the guide of faith, or having the privilege of infalli-
bility, if it be true doctrine, should not be known to the
Evangelists, to the Apostles, and to the primitive Church,
4 CHILLINGWORTH.
AS he shews it was not ; and concludes thus : " All these
thin,i^s, says he, and many more are very strange to me, if
the infallibility of the Roman Church be indeed and were
always by Christians acknowledged the foundation of our
faith : and therefore I beseech you pardon me, if I choose
to build mine upon one that is much firmer and safer,
and lies open to none of these objections, which is Scrip-
ture and universal Tradition ; and if one that is of this
faith may have leave to do so ; I will subscribe with hand
and heart, your very loving and tine friend," &c.
Lewgar was so far softened by this letter, that he had
an interview with his old friend. They had a conference
upon religion before Skinner and Sheldon ; and we have
a paper of Chillingworth printed among the additional
discourses above-mentioned, which seems to contain the
abstract or summary of their dispute. Besides tlie pieces
already mentioned, he wrote one to demonstrate, that
" the doctrine of infallibility is neither evident of itself,
nor grounded upon certain and infallible reasons, nor
warranted by any passage of Scripture." And in two
other papers, he shews that the Church of Rome had
formerly erred; first, "by admitting of infants to the
Eucharist, and holding, that without it they could not be
saved ;" and secondly, " by teaching the doctrine of the
Millenaries, viz : that before the world's end Chnst shall
reign upon the earth 1000 years, and that the saints
should live under Him in all holiness and happiness ;"
both which doctrines are condemned as false and heretical
by the present Church of Rome. He wrote also a short
letter, in answer to some objections by one of his friends,
in which he shews, that " neither the fathers nor the
councils are infallible witnesses of tradition ; and that the
infallibility of the Church of Ptome must first of all be
proved from Scripture." Lastly, he wrote an answer to
some passages in the dialogues published under the name
of Rushworth. In 1635 he was engaged in a work which
gave him a far greater opportunity to confute the princi-
ples of the Church of Rome, and to vindicate the religion
CHILLINGWORTH. i>
of Protestants. A Jesuit called Edward Knott, though his
true name was Matthias Wilson, had published in 1630
a little book called " Charity mistaken, with the want
whereof Catholics are unjustly charged, for affirming, as
they do with grief, that protestancy unrepented destroys
salvation." This was answered by Dr. Potter, provost of
Queen's College, Oxford, in 1633, in a tract entitled,
" Want of charity justly charged on all such Romanists as
dare without truth or modesty affirm, that protestancy
destroys salvation." The Jesuit in 1634 published an
answer, called " Mercy and truth, or charity maintained
by Catholics : with the want whereof they are
unjustly charged, for affirming that protestancy destroyeth
salvation." Knott being informed of Chillingworth's in-
tention to reply to this, resolved to prejudice the public
both against the author and his book, in a pamphlet
called " A direction to be observed by N.N. if he means
to proceed in answering the book entitled Mercy and
Truth, &c., printed in 1636, permissu superiorum :" in
which he makes no scruple to represent Chillingworth as
a Socinian, a charge which has been since brought against
him with more etfect. Chillingvvorth's answer to Knott
was very nearly finished in the beginning of 1637, when
Laud, who knew our author s freedom in delivering his
thoughts, and was under some apprehension he might
indulge it too much in his book, recommended the revisal
of it to Dr. Prideaux, professor of divinity at Oxford,
afterwards Bishop of Worcester ; and desired it might be
published with his approbation annexed to it. Dr. Baylie,
vice-chancellor, and Dr. Fell, Lady Margaret's professor in
divinity, also examined the book ; and at the end of the
year it was published, with their approbation, under this
title ; " The Religion of Protestants a safe way to Salva-
tion : or, an answer to a book entitled Mercy and Truth,
or Charity maintained by Catholics, which pretends to
prove the contrary."
In this work he was successful in his iittack upon
a2
f. CHILLING WORTH.
Komanisin. but laid himself sadly open to triumphant
retaliation, by his taking too wide ground. The
Church of England can successfully maintain her ground
against the Church of Rome : but when the dispute
is between Romanism and Protestantism in general,
it is, to say the least of it, a drawn battle. It was
in this book that he propounded the ultra-protestant
fallacy of the Bible and the Bible only being the religion
of Protestants. TVhat he meant by the religion of Pro-
testants he expresses thus : " When I say the religion of
Protestants is in prudence to be preferred before yours :
as on the one side I do not understand by your religion,
the doctrine of Bellarmine or Baronius, or any other
private man amongst you, nor the doctrine of the Sor-
bonne, or of the Jesuits, or of the Dominicans, or of any
other particular company among you, but that wherein
you all agi'ee, or profess to agree, the doctrine of the
council of Trent : so accordingly on the other side, by the
religion of Protestants, I do not understand the doctrine
of Luther, or Calvin, or Melancthon : nor the confession
of Augusta, or Geneva, nor the catechism of Heidelberg,
nor the articles of the Church of England, no, nor the
Harmony of Protestant Confessions ; but that wherein
they all agree, and which they all subscribe with a greater
harmony, as a perfect rule of their faith and actions, that
is, the Bible. The Bible, I say, the Bible only, is the
religion of Protestants." "I am fully assured," he says
in another place, " that God does not, and therefore man
ought not to require any more of any man than this, to
believe the Scripture to be Gods word, to endeavour to
find the tme sense of it, and to live acccording to it."
This work of Chilling\vorth's has been by some over-
praised, and by others unduly depreciated. It should be
borne in mind that in such passages as those quoted
above, Chillingworth's object was not to point out the way
in which tmth is to be discovered, but what it is sufificient
to hold as the foundation when the heart is honest. His
CHILLIXGWOHTH. V
arfjument is intended to establish this position, that
taking Protestantism in general, it is as safe a way to
Balvation as Romanism : its general principle, of taking
the Bible only for the guide, is as definite and as safe as
that which rests on the infallibility of the Church of
Rome. But when the question arises, as to what is the
way to arrive at the truth, — how are we to understand the
real sense of Scripture, — then he takes very different
grounds, and in the preface, where this question was
started, he says, " I profess sincerely, that 1 believe all
those books of Scripture, which the Church of England
accounts canonical, to be the infallible word of God : I
believe all things evidently contained in them ; all things
evidentlv, or even probably, deducible from them : I
acknowledge all that to be heresy, which by the act of
parliament primo of Queen Elizabeth, is declared to be so,
and only to be so : and though in such points which may
be held diversly of divers men salva Fidei compage, I
would not take any mans liberty from him, and humbly
beseech all men, that they would not take mine from me I
Yet thus much I can say (which I hope vcill satisfy any
man of reason.) that whatsoever hath been held necessary
to salvation, either by the Catholic Church of all ages,
or by the consent of fathers, measured by Vincentius
Lyrinensis' rule, or is held necessaiy either by the Catholic
Church of this age, or by the consent of Protestants, or
even by the Church of England, that, against the Soci-
nians, and all others whatsoever, I do verily believe and
embrace.''
In the mean time. Chillingwoith had refused prefer-
ment, which was offered him by Sir Thomas Coventry,
keeper of the great seal, because his conscience would not
allow him to subscribe the thirty-nine articles. Consider-
ing that, by subscribing the articles, he must not only
declare willingly and ex animo, that every one of the
articles is agreeable to the word of God : but also that
the book of common prayer contained nothing contrary to
the word of God ; that it might lawfully be used ; and
8 GHILLINGWORTH.
that he himself would use it : and conceiving at the same
time, that, both in the articles, and in the book of common
prayer, there were some things repugnant to the Scripture,
or that were not lawful to be used, he fully resolved to
lose for ever all hopes of preferment, rather than comply
with the subscriptions required. One of his chief objec-
tions to the common prayer related to the Athanasian
Creed : the damnatory clauses of which he looked upon as
contrary to the word of God. Another objection concerned
the fourth commandment ; which, by the prayer subjoined
to it. Lord, have mercy upon us, &c., appeared to him to
be made a part of the Christian law, and consequently to
bind Christians to the observation of the Jewish Sabbath ;
and this he found contrary both to the doctrine of the
Gospel and to the sense of the Church of England, con-
cerning that holy day of the Christians called Sunday.
The true notion of that and other holy-days, and the
reasons for appointing them for the service of God, are thus
expressed in the act of parliament passed in the year 1552.
That act sets forth, that, " as at all times men be not so
mindful to laud and praise God, so ready to resort and
hear God's holy word, and to come to the holy communion,
and other laudal)le rites, which are to be observed in every
Christian congregation, as their bounden duty doth re-
quire : therefore to call men to remembrance of their duty,
and to help their infirmity, it hath been wholesomely pro-
vided, that there should be some certain times and days
appointed, wherein the Christians should cease from all
other kinds of labours, and should apply themselves only
and wholly unto the aforesaid holy works, properly per-
taining unto true religion and as these works are
both most commonly, and also may well be called God's
service, so the times appointed specially for the same, are
called holy-days, not for the matter or nature either of
the time or day (for so all days and times considered
are of like holiness) but for the nature and condition
of those godly and holy works.. »...whereunto such times
and days are sanctified and hallowed ; that is to say.
CHILLINGWORTH. 9
ficparalod from all profane uses, and dedicated and ap-
pointed, not unto any saint or creature, Vjut only unto God,
and his true worship."
And lest any hody should imagine that these holy-days
have been determined by the Scripture, it is added :
" Neither is it to be thought that there is any certain time
or definite number of days prescribed in holy Scripture,
but that the appointment both of the time, and also of
the number of the days is left by the authority of God's
word to the liberty of Christ's Church to be determined
and assigned orderly in every country, by the direction of
the rulers and ministers thereof, as they shall judge most
expedient to the true setting forth of God's glory, and the
edification of their people."
And that these judicious reflections do not relate to
holy-days or saint>days only, but also to Sundays or Lord's
days, is evident by what follows : " Be it therefore en-
acted that all the days hereafter mentioned shall be
kept, and commanded to be kept holy-days, and none
other ; that is to say, all Sundays in the year, the days of
the Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ, of
the Lpipliany, of the Purification of the Jilessed Virgin, of
Saint Matthew the Apostle, of the Annunciation of the
Blessed Virgin," &c. All the other holy-days now kept
are here named. By which it appears, that the Sunday is
rift otherwise ordered to be kept holy-day than these other
holy-days.
And in order to settle still more clearly the notion
people are to have of the Sunday and other holy-days, it is
further provided and enacted : " that it shall be lawful to
every husbandman, labourer, fisherman, and to all and
every other person and persons, of what estate, degree or
condition he or they be, upon the holy-days aforesaid, in
harvest, or at any other time in the year wVien necessity
shall require, to labour, ride, fish, or work any kind of
work, at their free wills and pleasure."
Which perfectly agrees with the injunctions of King
Edward VI., published in 1547 (five years before the
10 CHILLINGWORTH.
said act), wherein it is ordered, that *' all parsons, vicars,
and curates shall teach and declare unto their parishioners,
that they may with a safe and quiet conscience, in the
time of harvest, labour upon the holy and festival days,
and save that thing which God hath sent. And if for
any scrupulosity, or grudge of conscience, men should
euperstitiously abstain from working upon those days,
that they then should grievously offend and displease
God." These very words Queen Elizabeth inserted in her
injunctions published in 1559 : save only that after the
words quiet conscience, these are added, after their com-
mon prayer.
This shews the sense of the Church of England as to
the manner of observing the Christian Sabbath or Sunday
But then another difficulty arises as to the day itself, the
fourth commandment being thus : " Remember that thou
keep holy the Sabbath-day. Six days shalt thou labour,
and do all that thou hast to do ; but the seventh day is
the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt do no
manner of work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter,
thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and
the stranger that is within thy gate. For in six days
the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, aud all that
in them is, and rested the seventh day : wherefore
the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it."
Mr. Chillingworth conceived that praying to God to
incline our hearts to keep this law, imported that the
Jewish Sabbath, or Saturday is still in foi'ce : which
he thought neither true, nor lawful to be said, and
consequently the Common Prayer Book unlawful to be
used.
This difficulty has embarrassed our divines. But
Chillingworth, at last, was convinced of the lav»'fulness of
declaring his assent and consent to the use of the Common
Prayer Book, as we shall see hereafter.
On this subject Chillingworth corresponded with
Dr. Sheldon, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury. It
appears that several letters passed between them on the
CHILLING WORTH. 11
subject of conformity, and that Chillingworth objected to
the XXth Article, importing, "that the Church hath power
to decree rites or ceremonies, and authority in controver-
sies of faith.
2. "To the XlVth Article, that voluntary works besides
over and above God's commandments, which they call
works of supererogation, cannot be taught without arro-
gancy and impiety, &c. : which seemed to condemn the
doctrine of Evangelical Counsels, maintained by the
fathers, and by several eminent divines of the Church
of England, as Bishop Andrews, Bishop Morton, Bishop
Montague, &c.
3. "To the XXXIst Article, that the offering of Christ
once made, is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and
satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, both original
and actual : and that there is none other satisfaction
for sin but that alone. Wherefore the sacrifices of masses,
in which it was commonly said, that the priest did offer
Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of
pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables and dangerous
deceits : scrupling, I presume the generality of the ex-
pressions contained in the first part of this article, and
disliking the w^ord blasphemous, which is the latter part
of it.
4. " To the Xlllth Article, that works done before the
grace of Christ, and the inspiration of His Spirit, are not
pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in
Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive
grace, (or as the school-authors say) deserve grace of con-
gruity : yea, rather for that they are not done as God
hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt
not but they have the nature of sin : which appeared to
him to confine God's grace within too narrow bounds, and
to exclude from salvation the most virtuous among the
pagans, &c.
5. " Lastly, he objected to the Articles in general, as an
imposition on men's consciences, much like that authority
which the Church of Rome assumes."
1^ CHILLINGWORTH.
To his objections Sheldon replied, with respect to
the XXth Article, that if " occasion require, the Church
hath power to establish ceremony or doctrine according to
Scripture, but not against the Scripture.
2. " To the XlVth Article, he desires him to consider,
that this article only condemns such Evangelical Counsels
as suppose a fulfilling of the law, and going beyond it, to
satisfy and merit for us, which the papists call works of
supererogation. And upon these reasons, says he, I pre-
sume did that reverend prelate Andrews, and that learned
Mountague, subscribe, when they publicly taught Evangeli-
cal Counsels in their writings.
3. *' To the XXXIst Article, that it was framed against
the popish doctrine of the mass, wherein it is pretended that
the priest doth offer Christ for the quick and the dead ;
as another satisfaction for sin : there being no such offer-
ing of Christ in the Scripture, where he will find it once
offered for all. And that the consequences, which may be
drawn from transubstantiation, amount to little less than
blasphemy.
4 " To the Xlllth Article, he observes, that works done
by bare nature are not meiitorious de congruo : nature of
sin they must have, if sin be in them : and that unless he
be a downright Pelagian, he may give it a fair, and safe,
and true interpretation.
5. "To the objection agaiUvSt confessions of faith, or
articles of religion, he answers, that the end of these
general forms of peace, if capable of any construction, lies
against the papists. And he concludes by admonishing
him not to be too forward, nor possessed with a spirit of
contradiction : thus he might — The sentence is here broke
off — but no doubt Dr. Sheldon meant, that if Mr. Chilling-
worth would lay aside his mistaken scruples and objec-
tions ; he might then comply with the subscription
required, and enjoy the advantages of subscribing."
Maizeaux, the biographer of Chillingworth, illustrates
what Sheldon says of Evangelical Counsels, by the follow-
ing quotation from Montague's Appeal to Caesar :
CHILLINGWORTH. 13
*• I do believe there are," says he, *' and ever were,
Evangelical Counsels ; such as St. Paul mentions in his
Consilium autem do ; such as our Saviour pointed at and
directed unto his Qui potest capere capiat ; such as a man
may do or not do, without guilt of sin, or breach of law ;
but nothing less than such as the papists fabric up unto
themselves in their works of supererogation. It is an
error in divinity, not to put a difference between such
works, and works done upon counsel and advice. If any
man, not knowing or not considering the state of the
question, hath otherwise written, or preached, or taught,
what is that to me, or to the doctrine of the Church of
England? His ignorance, or fancy, or misunderstanding,
or misapplying, is not the doctrine of antiquity, which
with universal consent held Evangelical Counsels ; nor of
our Church, in which our Gamaliel hath told us ; Quis
nescit fieri a nobis multo libere, et quae a Deo non sunt
imperata voveri et reddi ? These promoters knew it not.
B. Morton in his Appeal saith (if he does not say true,
inform against him for it) that we allow the distinction of
precepts and counsels, lib. v. cap. iv. sect. 3. For his sake
excuse me from popery, who write no more than he did
before me : what in God's indulgence is a matter of coun-
sel?; in regard of strict justice, may come under precept."
Cap. iv. sect. v.
The scruples of Chillingworth to subscription were
known to his antagonist Knott, and furnished him with
an objection ; but the scruples had been overcome before
the religion of Protestants was published, as will have been
seen from a passage already quoted, and at the close of
the preface, he says, that " though he does not hold the
doctrine of all Protestants absolutely true, yet he holds it
free from all impiety, and from all error destructive of
salvation, or in itself damnable. And this he thinks, in
reason, may sufficiently qualify him for a maintainor of
this assertion, that Protestancy destroys not salvation."
Then he adds this remarkable declaration : " For the
VUL IV. B
14 CHILLING WORTH.
Church of England, I am persuaded, that the constant
doctrine of it is so pure and orthodox, that whosoever
beheves it, and hves according to it, undoubtedly he shall
be saved ; and there is no error in it which may necessi-
tate or warrant any man to disturb the peace, or renounce
the communion of it. This, in my opinion, says he, is
all intended by subscription ; and thus much, if you con-
ceive me not ready to subscribe, your charity, I assure
you, is much mistaken." Chillingworth expresses here,
not only his readiness to subscribe, but also what he con-
ceives to be the sense and intent of such a subscription :
which he now takes to be a subscription of peace or union^
and not of belief or assent, as he formerly thought it was.
When he had got the better of his scruples, he w^as pro-
moted to the chancellorship of Salisbury, with the prebend
of Brix worth, in Northamptonshire, annexed ; and, as
appears from the subscription- book of the church of Salis-
bury, upon July 20, 1638, he complied with the usual
subscription, in the manner just related. About the same
time he was appointed master of Wigston's hospital, in
Leicestershire. In 1646 he was deputed by the chapter
of Salisbury their proctor in convocation. He was zea-
lously attached to the royal party, and at the siege of
Gloucester, begun August 10, 1643, was present in the
Kings army, where he advised and directed the m: iking
certain engines for assaulting the town, after the manner
of the Roman iestudines cum joluteis, but which the success
of the enemy prevented him from employing. Soon after,
having accompanied the Lord Hopton, general of the
King's forces in the west, to Arundel Castle, in Sussex,
and choosing to repose himself in that garrison, on ac-
count of an indisposition occasioned by the severity of the
season, he was taken prisoner on the 9th of December,
1643, by the parliament forces under the command of
Sir William Waller. But his illness increasing, and not
being able to go to London with the garrison, he obtained
leave to be conveyed to Chichester ; where he was lodged
CHILLINGWORTH. 15
in the bishop's palace, and where, after a short illness, he
died. It was at Arundel Castle that he first met with
Cheynell (see Cheynell), at whose request he was removed
to Chichester, where that wild fanatic attended him con-
stantly, and treated him with as much compassion as
his uncharitable principles would permit. He is supposed
to have died on the 30th of January, 1644, and was
buried, according to his own desire, in the cathedral of
Chichester.
Chillingworth's loyalty made him look with a friendly
eye upon the doctrine of Episcopacy. He wrote a small
tract to shew that Episcopacy is not repugnant to the
government settled in the Church for perpetuity by the
Apostles. The occasion was this : Dr. Morton, Bishop of
Durham, having composed a treatise, entitled, The judg-
ment of Protestant Divines, of remote Churches, as well
such, as were the first Reformers of religion, as others,
after them, in behalf of episcopal degree in the Church :
his manuscript was sent to Archbishop Usher, who was
then at Oxford ; and he published it without the author's
name to it, and knowledge of it, under the title of Con-
fessions and Proofs of Protestant Divines of Reformed
Churches, that Episcopacy is in respect of the office
according to the word of God, and in respect of the use
the best. The learned Primate added to it a brief treatise
of his own, with his name prefixed before it, touching the
original of Bishops and Metropolitans. And in order to
complete that collection, Mr. Chillingworth furnished him
with the aforesaid tract, which being subjoined to the
other two, as a conclusion, was in titled. The Apostolical
Institution of Episcopacy ; deduced out of the premises
by W, C. This little piece has been reprinted several
times: "and I don't find," says Maizeaux, "anything
was published against it till of late. But whether it may
be easily confuted, the reader will judge by the ensuing
passages."
"If we abstract from Episcopal government," says
Mr. Chillingworth, " all axjcidentals, and consider only
16 CHILLINGWORTH.
what is essential and necessary to it ; we shall find in it
no more but this. An appointment of one man of
emioent sanctity and sufficiency to have the care of all the
churches, within a certain precinct or diocese ; and fur-
nishing him with authority, not absolute or arbitrary, but
regulated and bounded by laws, and moderated by join-
ing to him a convenient number of assistants. To the
intent that all the churches under him may be provided
of good and able pastors : and that both of pastors and
people conformity to the laws and performance of their
duties may be required, under penalties, not left to dis-
cretion, but by law appointed.
" To this kind of government," pursues he, " I am not
by any particular interest so devoted as to think it ought
to be maintained, either in opposition to Apostolic institu-
tion, or to the much desired reformation of men s lives,
and restoration of primitive discipline, or to any law or
precept of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: for that
were to maintain a means contrary to the end : for obedi-
ence to our Saviour is the end for which church govern-
ment is appointed. But if it may be demonstrated, or
made much more probable than the contrary, as I verily
think it may : 1. That it is not repugnant to the govern-
ment settled in and for the Church by the Apostles:
2. That it is as compilable with the reformation of any
evil, which we desire to reform either in Church or State,
or the introduction of any good which we desire to intro-
duce, as any other kind of government : and 3. That
there is no law, no record of our Saviour against it : then
I hope it will not be thought an unreasonable motion, if
we humbly desire those that are in authority, especially
the high court of parliament, that it may not be sacrificed
to clamour, or overborne by violence : and though (which
God forbid) the greater part of the multitude should cry.
Crucify, crucify, yet our governors would be so full of
justice and courage, as not to give it up until they per-
fectly understand concerning Episcopacy itself. Quid mali
fecit. I shall speak at this time only of the first of these
CHISHULL. 17
three points ; that Episcopacy is not repugnant to the
government settled in the Church for perpetuity by the
Apostles. Whereof I conceive this which follows as clear
a demonstration as any thing of this nature is capable
of," &c.
What he says afterw^ards upon that point he resumes
thus in the conclusion : " Episcopal government is ac-
knowledged to have been universally received in the
church presently after the Apostles' times. Between the
Apostles' times and this presently after, there was not
time enough for, nor possibility of so great an alteration.
And therefore there was no such alteration as is pretended.
And therefore Episcopacy, being confessed to be so an-
cient and catholic, must be granted also to be apostolic.
Quod erat demonstrandum." — Maizeaux. Birch.
CHISHULL, EDMUND.
Edmund Chishull was born at Eyworth in Bedford-
shire, and educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford,
where he took his degree of master of arts in 1693, pre-
viously to which he published a Latin poem on the battle
of La Hogue. In 1698 he became chaplain to the factory
at Smyrna, where he continued till 1702. In 1705 he
was admitted to his degree of B.D., and the next year he
wrote an answer to Mr. Dodwell on the immortality of
the soul. In 1707 he zealously exposed the enthusiastic
absiTrdities of the French prophets, in a sermon, on the
28rd of November, at Seijeant's Inn chapel, in Chancery-
lane. On the 1st of September, 1708, he w^as presented
to the vicarage of Walthamstow, in Essex; and in 1711
he was appointed one of the chaplains in ordinary to the
Queen. He now became distinguished for his researches
in classical antiquities, and in 1721 he published, Inscrip-
tio Sigaea antiquissima BOTSTPO^HAON exarata. Com-
mentario eam Historico-Grammatico-Gritico iliustravit
b2
18 CHOISY.
Edrmindus ChishuU, S.T.B. Regiae Majestati a sacris,
folio. This was followed by Notarum ad Inscriptionem
Sigaeam appendicula ; addita a Sigseo altera ADtiochi
Soteris inscriptione, folio, in fifteen pages, without a date.
Both these pieces were afterwards incorporated in his
Antiquitaties Asiaticae. When Dr. Mead, in 1724, pub-
lished his Harveian oration, delivered in the preceding
year at the Royal College of Physicians, Mr. Chishull
added to it, by way of appendix, Dissertatio de Nummis
quibusdam aSmyrnaeis in Medicorum Honorem percussis.
In 1728 appeared, in folio, his great work, Antiquitates
Asiaticae Christianam ^Eram antecedentes ; ex primariis
Monumentis Graecis descriptse, Latine versae, Notisque et
Commentariis illustratae. Accedit Monumentum Latinum
Ancyranum. The work contains a collection of inscrip-
tions made by consul Sherard, Dr. Picenini, and Dr. Lisle,
afterwards Bishop of St. Asaph. Chishull added to the
Antiquitates Asiaticae two small pieces which he had
before publihsed, viz: Conjectanea de Nummo CKnni
inscripto, and Iter Asias Poeticum, addressed to the
Rev. John Horn. In 1731 he was presented to the
rectory of South-church in Essex. He died in 1733.
Dr. Mead testified his regard for the memory of Chishull
by publishing, in 1747, his travels in Turkey, and back
to England, folio. — Biog. Brit. Nichols s Bowyer.
CHOISY, FRANCIS TIMOLEON DE.
Fbancis Timoleon de Choisy was born in Paris, in
1644. His youth was very irregular, and so indeed were
his maturer years ; nevertheless, notwithstanding the
boasted discipline of Roman Catholic Churches, he was
highly preferred, and that too, through the interest of the
French court, the patronage of which, especially of Mon-
sieur, the brother of Louis XIV., those very irregularities
procured him. He became dean of the cathedral at
CHRISTOPHERSON. 1 9
Bayeaux, and a member of the French academy. He was
sent to the King of Siam, with the ChevaUer de Chaumont
in 1685, and was ordained priest in the Indies by the
apostoHcal vicar. He died in 17-^4. His principal works
are: — 1. Quatre Dialogues sur llmmortalite de I'Ame,
&c. which he wrote with M. Dangeau, l'2mo. 2. Relation
du Voyage de Siam, 12mo. 3. Histoires de Piete et de
Morale, 2 vols, 12mo. 4. Hist, de TEglise, 11 vols, in 4to,
and in 12mo. 5. La Vie de David, avec une Interpre-
tation des Pseaumes, 4to, 6. The Lives of Solomon ; of
St. Louis, 4to ; of Philip de Valois, and of King John,
4to; of Charles V. 4to ; and of Charles VL 4to ; and of
Mad. de Miramion, 12mo; his Memoirs, l*2mo. — lyAlem-
bert. Moreri.
CHRTSTOPHERSON, JOHN.
John Christopherson was a native of Lancashire, and
was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge. He was
one of the first fellows of Trinity College, being appointed
in 1546. He shortly after became master of that house.
During the reign of Edward VL, being adverse to the
reformation party then in power, he resided abroad, being
supported by his college. On the accession of Mary he
returned to England, and in October, 1554, he was sent
by Bonner to Cambridge, to enforce the observation of
three articles, which it seems w^ere not so exactly regarded
before ;
I. That every scholar should wear his apparel according
to his degree in the schools.
II. Touching the pronunciation of the Greek tongue.
In which, no question, the university follow^ed Sir John
Cheke's reformed and correct way of reading and sounding
it; though this Gardiner, their chancellor, in King
Henry's days, had sent a peremptory order forbidding it.
But he being under a cloud in the reign of King Edward,
Cheke's way prevailed again. And so now it was to be
forbidden again.
\
20 CHRISTOPHERSON.
III. That every preacher there should declare the whole
style of the King and Queen in their sermons.
Upon these and several other orders, many students
left the university. Some were thrust out of their fellow-
ships ; some miserably handled. Four and twenty places
in St. John's College became vacant, and others more
ignorant put in their rooms.
He also published an exhortation upon occasion of the
late insurrection directed to all men to take heed of rebel-
lion, wherein are set down the causes which commonly
lead men to rebel, and shewing there was no cause that
ought to move a man thereto. It was printed in 8vo by
Cawood. He was soon after made dean of Norwich, and
taking an active part against the reformers, has the dis-
credit of being associated with Bonner, through whose
influence he was appointed examiner of heretics. While
the Elect of Chichester, to which see he was consecrated
in 1557, he acted under a commission from Cardinal Pole,
and went to Cambridge with two other prelates, when,
after a formal process, they caused the body of Martin
Bucer to be disinterred and burnt. He was one of the
prelates who sat in judgment upon the martyr Philpot,
and w^hen he had reproached him with ignorance of the
doctors, Philpot told the bishop, " that it was a shame for
them to wrest and wreath the doctors as they did, to
maintain a false religion : and that the doctors were alto-
gether against them, if they took them aright : and that it
was indeed their false packing of doctors together had
given him and others occasion to look upon them : where-
by we find you," said he, " shameful liars, and misrepre-
senters of the ancient doctors."
He died in 1658, and was buried at Christ Church,
London, with all the popish ceremonies. A great banner
was carried of the arms of the see of Chichester, and his
own arms ; and four banners of saints. Five bishops did
offer at the mass, and two sung mass. And after, all
retiring from the place of burial, were entertained at a
great dinner. He translated Philo Judfeus into Latin,
CHRYSOSTOM. 21
Antwerp, 1558, 4to, and also the ecclesiastical histories of
Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, Evagrius, and Theodoret,
Louvain, 1570, 8vo ; Cologne, 1570, fol.
Valesius, in his preface to Eusebius, says, that, compared
with Ruffinus and Musculus, who had translated these
historians before him, Christopherson may be reckoned
a diligent and learned man, but that he is far from de-
serving the character of a good translator ; that his style
is impure, and full of barbarisms ; that his periods are
long and perplexed; that he has frequently acted the
commentator, rather than the translator ; that he has en-
larged and retrenched at pleasure ; that he has transposed
the sense oftentimes, and has not always preserved the
distinction even of chapters. The learned Huet has
passed the same censure on him, in his book De Inter-
pretatione. Hence Baronius, among others, has often been
misled by him. Christopherson wrote, also, about the
year 1546, the tragedy of Jephthah, both in Latin and
Greek, dedicated to Henry YIII., which was most prO"
bably a Christmas play for Trinity College. — Strype.
CHKYSOSTOM, ST. JOHN.
John, surnamed Chkysostom, or the Golden Mouth,
from his eloquence, was born at iVntioch, about a.d. 347,
of a wealthy family. He was piously educated by his
widowed mother, Anthusa, a woman worthy to take rank
wath Monica, the mother of Augustine, and Nouna, the
mother of St. Gregory Nazianzen. He studied under
Libenius, the celebrated teacher of eloquence and litera-
ture at Antioch. He afterwards devoted himself to the
avocations of the Forum, and practised as an advocate.
But his mind w^as bent upon higher studies, and in the
study of sacred literature he was encouraged and assisted
by Meletius, his bishop, who, at the same time, pre-
pared him for the Sacrament of Baptism. In those days>
many parents, through a mistaken awe of the Sacrament,
n CHRYSOSTOM.
neglected to have their children baptized in infancy,
and such had been the mistaken conduct of Anthusa.
After three years' instruction under Meletius, Chrysostom
was baptized by that bishop, and soon after was ordained
as a reader.
It was the custom of that day for couverts to choose
between the ecclesiastical and monastic state, according to
their inclinations to an active or retired life. Many of the
young men of Antioch thus spiritually awakened, con-
nected themselves with the monks who lived in cells upon
the hills near the city, and who occupied themselves by
prayer and devotional music, by religious meditation, the
study of the sacred writings, and various manual occupa-
tions. The enthusiasm of that age tended to asceticism,
just as the religious enthusiasm of the present age tends
to excitement, self-indulgence, and the violent advocacy
of human systems of theology, such as Calvinism. The
young mind of St. Chrysostom was ascetic, and if he had
been his own master, he would have joined the monks ;
but his mother, dreading to be separated from her son,
endeavoured to retain him in her house, and without con-
sulting him, provided for all his personal wants, that he
might follow the bent of his mind the more undisturbed.
On the other hand his friend Basil, the companion of
his youthful studies, having chosen a path of life different
from his own, and having joined the monks, exerted him-
self in every way to bring over Chrysostom to his views.
This, however, his mother strove to prevent, representing
to him, that he was the only comfort of her old age, and
that there was no sacrifice she had not made for his
sake ; and without doubt he was influenced by these
representations.
In this retirement he was zealously occupied by the
study of the Bible. His spiritual father, Meletius, could
no longer be his guide and instructor ; he had been
exiled p. c. o70, by the Emperor Yalens, who persecuted
many of the opponents of Arianism, and he passed several
years in banishment. His place was supplied by the
CHRYSOSTOM. 23
presbyters Eyagrius and Diodorus, the latter of whom was
afterwards known as Bishop of Tarsus in Cilicia, and who
obtained great esteem by his learning and persevering
zeal in the defence of divine truth against heathens and
heretics, tie w^andered unwearied through the old town
of Antioch on the further side of the Orontes, where the
congregation of Meletius had fixed their seat, to confirm
men in the true faith. He would not accept any settled
income with his office ; but he was received first in one
house and then in another, and was content to have his
daily need relieved by the love of those, for whose salvation
he laboured amid so many perils He also couferred a
great benefit upon the Church of this district, by assem-
bling around him, as the presbyters Dorotheus and Lucia-
nus had done at the latter end of the third century, a
circle of young men, whose religious education he superin-
tended. In this union Chrysostom and Theodorus were
alike conspicuous, the latter of whom subsequently distin-
guished himself as the successor of Diodorus, both in this
and in the episcopal office. We may suppose that the
influence exercised by Diodorus over Chrysostom must
have been great, when we remember that Diodorus above
all others contributed to form that Antiochian school so
remarkably distinguished by the character of its theology,
and which was perfected by Theodoras. In this school
Chrysostom acquired that simple, sound, grammatic and
historical mode of interpreting the Bible, in which he
suffered himself to be guided and determined by its spirit,
rather than by that capricious system of allegory adopted
by others, which gave to the inspired volume a sense
foreign to it, and substituted for its simplicity far-fetched
and specious meanings, supposed to lie concealed within
it. Thus from the simple w^ord did Chrysostom derive
the rich treasures which are to be met with in his homilies ;
and thus was formed the sober, practical Christianity
which afterwards rendered him so eminent, and which is
always to be found with those, who in singleness of heart
seek from the fountain source a knowledge of divine truth.
24 CHRYSOSTOM.
Meanwhile the fame of his pious zeal and ability ex-
tended far and wide, and raised in bishops and in flocks a
wish to draw him from retirement, and win him to a
higher office of the Church. Many sought to persuade
both him and his friend Basil to undertake episcopal
ministries, although thirty was the age prescribed by the
law, and they were not above twenty- six years old. Both
agreed to act together on a common plan, and to decline
any invitation of this nature ; because they entertained too
high an idea of the importance and duties of the office, to
consider themselves fitted for it. But the opinion, which
Chrysostom held of his friend, totally differed from that,
which he formed of himself. While he was only conscious
of his own defects, he remarked qualities in his friend,
which rendered him more worthy of the episcopal dignity,
than many others of his contemporaries and fellow coun-
trymen ; and he thought himself justified in a deception,
in order to place his friend in such a sphere of action.
Basil was elected Bishop, and received consecration under
the impression, that his friend had also received it, ac-
cording to their agreement ; but Chrysostom had contrived
to withdraw himself from the charge. In conferences with
Basil, he had to defend himself against the accusation of
having violated friendship ; and one word giving rise to
another, Chrysostom disclosed to him his views concerning
the dignity and duties of the episcopal office ; but at the
same time he strove to encourage him in his undertak-
ing. These conversations gave occasion afterwards to
one of Chrysostom's most important writings, the De
Sacerdotio.
On his mothers death Chrysostom put in execution
his favourite project of joining the monks near Antioch,
but, in 380, his health having been injured by his
studies and his austerities, he returned to the city,
and he was in 384 ordained deacon by Meletius; by
whose successor, Flavian, he was ordained priest five
years afterwards, and then his duties .as a preacher
commenced.
CHRYSOSTOM. 25
Although he tells us that some persons were displeased
at the slowness of his speech, his preaching at Antioch
was attended with the best results, and he himself states
to us the principle upon which he prepared his discourses,
when he says, " that which is plain will benefit the simple,
and that w^hich is deep will edify those whose perception
is more acute. The table must be covered with a variety
of dishes, because the guests have diiferent tastes." Thus
he provided much for the many, and a little for the few.
One piece of advice that he gave to his congregation
sounds strange to modern ears, " since there are some so
weak that they cannot follow the discourse its whole
length, I advise them as soon as they have heard as much
instruction as they are able to receive, to depart." This
is better, perhaps, than the modern practice of falling
asleep. The following passage shews tliat the custom of
leaving the church when the sermon was concluded, and
before the Eucharist was administered, prevailed in his
time, and it also shews that the Romish custom of non-
communicants remaining while the holy Sacrament is
administered, did not at that time exist.
" Often in that sacred hour," he said, "have I looked
around for this vast multitude, which is now assembled
here, and listening with such great attention, but found
them not ; and deeply did I lament, that ye so earnestly
and eagerly listened to your fellow-servant, who now ad-
dresseth you, thronging each other and remaining to the
last, but, when Christ was about to appear in His Holy
Supper, that the church should be deserted. Your hurry-
ing away the moment my discourse is ended is a proof,
that none of the words addressed to you have been received
and treasured up in your hearts ; or, fixed in your souls,
they would surely have detained you, and led you to receive
the holiest of mysteries with increased veneration. But
now, when the preacher hath ceased, ye depart without
benefit, as if ye had listened to a player upon the harp.
And what is the cold excuse of the many ? We can pray,
VOL IT. c
S6 CHRYSOSTOM.
say they, at home ; but we canoot there receive instruction
and hear the sermon. Ye err; — ye can truly pray at
home, but not as ye can pray in the church, where so
great a number of the fathers are met together, and where
so many voices unite to raise a prayer to God. Ye find
here what ye cannot find at home — the hamiony of souls,
the accord of voices, the bond of love^ the prayers of the
priests; for therefore do the priests preside, that the
feeble prayers of the multitude, borne aloft by their more
powerful petitions, may reach together unto heaven. And
what advantage th the sermon, if it be not joined with
prayer? First, prayer; then, the word. Thus say the
Apostles : ' We will give ourselves continually to prayer,
and to the ministry of the word.' And thus did Paul
commence his epistles with prayer, that he might enkindle
with the sparks of prayer the fire of speech. If ye accus-
tom yourselves to pray with a proper earnestness, ye will
not need the instruction of your fellow-servant, but God
Himself will enlighten your minds without a mediator."
In another sermon, he says, that the consciousness of
being beloved by so great a community inspired him with
much confidence, because on that account he felt sure of
their intercession. The worth of this intercession might
be seen in the instance of the Apostle Paul, since that
great Apostle declared, that he needed the intercession of
his disciples. He then comments upon the powerful in-
fluence of a common prayer. He said not this on his own
account, but to stimulate their zeal for a communion in
the prayers of the Church. To the objection : Can I not
pray at home ? he answered : " That, indeed, thou canst ;
but prayer hath not so great a power, as when it is offered
up in communion with thy brethren; when the whole
body of the congregation, out of one heart and with one
voice, poureth forth the request, in the presence of the
priests, who bear aloft the common prayers of the multi-
tude." We will compare with this extract a passage from
one of his sermons preached at Constantinople, in which
CHRYSOSTOM. 27
he expresses himself yet more strongly upon this point.
He answered those, who inquired: "Wherefore should we
go to church, if we can hear no preacher there ? — This
delusion is your destruction. Wherefore do we need
a preacher ? The necessity hath arisen from our own
negligence. For what need have we of a sermon ? In
the Holy Scriptures all is clear and plain ; every thing
necessary is therein manifest. But because ye are
listeners, seeking entertainment, ye long so much for
the sermon."
He attached great value to the prayers of the old Antio-
chian litui'gy, drawn from the depths of Christian experi-
ence, and clothed for the most part in biblical language ;
and he frequently drew the attention of his congregation
to them in his sermons. We have already remarked the
fruitful manner, in which he availed himself of these
prayers, and applied them ; and we will further illustrate
this by a few examples. One of his homilies was solely
devoted to an explanation of the beautiful church prayer
for the catechumens, and he availed himself of it to shew
in what consisted a fit preparation for baptism, and a
lively faith. He was often compelled to remark, how
many listened mechanically to these beautiful forms of
hturgy, scarcely conscious of their import, and to notice
that deficiency of piety, which betrayed itself in their
pressing against each otlier during the prayers of the
Church, and during the celebration of the Holy Commu-
nion, that they might depart earlier without waiting for
the termination of the prayers and the solemn dismissal
of the congregation. He frequently delivered strong
censures upon this conduct. On one occasion, he said ;
" Hear these words of Christ, ye, who have again departed
before the last prayer offered up after the celebration of
the Holy Communion : Christ gave thanks to God before
He distributed the supper among His disciples, that we
also might give thanks ; and after He had distributed it
among them. He sung a hymn to the praise of God, that
we likewise might do the same." And on the festival of
28 CHRYSOSTOM.
the holy Epiphany, he says : " Let us, then, to-day,
endeavour to correct a sin openly committed by all. Would
ye know what this sin is ? It is the not approaching the
Lord's table with fear and trembling, but stamping,
striking, swelling with wrath, screaming, insulting, and
pushing those near to you, full of passion and turbulence.
Tell me, why are ye thus tumultuous ? Wherefore hasten
ye ? Doth business summon you ? Can ye think, in that
hour, of worldly affairs ? Can ye then remember, that ye
are upon earth — deem yourselves dwelling among men ?
Doth it not betray a heart of stone, to recollect in that
moment that ye are standing upon earth, and not amid
the choirs of angels, with whom ye have resounded aloft
that holy hymn ? with whom ye have chaunted that song
of triumph unto God ? Shall I tell you whence this dis-
order and noise proceed ? Because we do not close the
doors during the whole time of divine service, but permit
you,' before the last prayer of thanksgiving is offered up,
to rise suddenly, and depart home. This, of itself^ is an
act of great contempt. While Christ is present, while the
angels are standing around, w4iile that holy table is spread
before you, while your brethren are yet partaking of the
Holy Supper, — ye hasten away. Were ye invited to a
feast, though your own hunger were appeased, ye would
not venture to absent yourselves, so long as the other
guests are reclining at the table." He likewise exhorted
them to join with devotion in these prayers of the
Church ; and, according to his custom, he sought, by
using the forms of the liturgy, to impress his exhorta-
tions deeper upon their minds : " Even the words," he
said, " of the deacon, calling upon all: ' Let us stand up,
as it beseemeth us,' are not introduced without a meaning,
but that we should raise our grovelling thoughts, and,
throwing off the fetters of earthly cares, raise our souls to
God. That this is signified — that these words regard not
the body, but the soul, we may learn from Paul, who in
like manner useth this mode of speech ; for, writing to
fallen and desponding men, he saith : * Wherefore lift up
CHRYSOSTOM. 29
the hands which haog down, and the feeble knees.' What
then ? Shall we saj, that he speaketh of the hands and
knees of the body ? Certainly not ; for he addresseth not
runners, nor pugilists ; but he exhorteth them by these
words to raise the power of their souls, laid prostrate by
temptations. Consider near whom thou standest, — that
with the cherubim themselves thou art about to call upon
God. Examine the assembled choir, and it will suffice to
excite thy watchfulness, when thou thinkest, that, bearing
about with thee a body, and held together by flesh, thou
art deemed worthy of singing hymns to the common Lord
of all, in company with the spiritual powers. Let no one,
then, with a faint heart take part in these sacred hymns ;
let no one in that season entertain a wordly thought ; but,
having banished all earthly things from his mind, and
transferred himself entirely to heaven, as if standing near
the very throne of glory, and flying amid the seraphim, let
him send forth that holiest of hymns to the God of glory
and power. Therefore are we then called upon to stand
erect, as it beseemeth us; for this signifieth nothing
more than to stand so, as it becometh man to stand before
God, with fear and trembling, with a watchful and a sober
mind." And in another sermon, "Oh, man! what art
thou doing ? Hast thou not pledged thyself to the priest,
when he said to thee, ' Lift up your hearts,' and thou
didst answer, ' We lift them up unto the Lord' ? Fearest
thou not, and art thou not ashamed, in that awful hour to
be found a liar ?"
In his exposition of the -list Psalm, he thus speaks on
the salutary influence of vocal music in the churches :
" Nothing so lifteth up, and, as it were, wingeth the soul,
so freeth it from earth, and looseth it from the chains of
the body, so leadeth it unto wisdom, and a contempt of all
earthly things, as the choral symphony of a sacred hymn,
set in harmonious measure. Our nature delighteth so
much in song, and so accordeth with it, that infants at the
breast, when fretful or sobbing, are thereby lulled asleep."
c2
80 CHRYSOSTOM.
After having endeavoured to show, hy various examples,
that when the soul is under the intiuence of song, men
are better enabled to endure exertion and labour, he con-
tinued ; " the singing of psalms bringeth with it much
gain, support, and sanctification, and can supply various
lessons of wisdom, if the words purify the heart, and the
Holy Ghost straightways descend upon the soul of the
singer. For we learn from Paul, that those, who sing
with understanding, call down upon them the grace of the
Holy Spirit. He saith : ' Be not drunk with wine, where-
in is excess ; but be filled with the Spirit,' and he addeth
thereunto the manner ; in which we are to be filled with
the Holy Spirit : ' By singing and making melody in your
heart to the Lord.' What signify these words, 'in your
heart"? He would say with understanding, that the
mouth utter not the words, while the soul wandereth
everywhere abroad ; but that the soul be conscious of that
which the tongue speaketh." Again, in the same dis-
course : " Let us not, then, without due thought, enter
here, and carelessly sing the responses ; but let us bear
them hence, as a staff for the rest of our days. Each
verse may impart to us wisdom, correct our doctrines, and
afford us the greatest aid in life ; and if we nicely search
each saying, we shall gather therefrom rich fruit. No one
can, in this instance, allege the excuse of poverty, business,
or want of understanding ; for shouldest thou be poor, and
because of thy poverty possess no Bible, or shouldest thou
possess one, and not have the time to read therein, thou
needest only to keep in thy heart the responses thou hast
so often chaunted here, and thou wilt draw from them a
great consolation."
He frequently and earnestly exhorted his people to
study the Bible. The following may be quoted as one sen-
tence out of many :
" Let us then heed the reading of the Holy Scriptures,
not only during these two hours, but constantly ; for the
mere listening hero will not be sufficient to secure the
CHRYSOSTOM. 31
salvation of our souls. Let each man, when he returneth
home, take the Bible in his hand, and if he desire to
derive a full and enduring advantage from the Holy
Scripture, let him ponder therein upon the things spoken
in the church. For the tree, which groweth beside the
stream, n^ingleth not with its waters for two or three hours
only, but during the whole day and the whole night.
Therefore is the plant rich in leaves : therefore is it laden
with fruit, although no man water it; because, standing
upon the bank of the river, it draweth up moisture
through its roots, and through them imparteth strength to
the whole stem. Thus he, who continually readeth the
Bible, although no man be near to expound it, receiveth
thereby into his soul abundant nourishment from that
sacred fountain."
But while he thus preached, he taught men also to
defer in their interpretation of Scripture to apostolical
tradition, and the authority of the Church, for " Scripture
cannot contain two contradictory meanings."
He was particularly anxious to promote a zealous obser-
vance of the festival of Christmas, as the following extract
from one of two sermons he preached on this subject in
the year 387 will shew.
" The festival approacheth, the most to be revered,
the most awful, and which we might justly term the centre
of all festivals, — that of the birth and manifestation of
Christ in the flesh. Hence the festivals of Epiphany, of
holy Easter, of Ascension, and of Pentecost, derive their
origin and signification. Had Christ not been born a
man, he w^ould not have been baptized, and we should not
have observed the festival of Epiphany ; he would not
have been crucified, and we should not have solemnized
the festival of Easter ; he would not have sent down the
Holy Ghost, and we should not have celebrated the day of
Pentecost. Therefore from this one festival all other
festivals arise, as various streams flow from the same foun-
tain. But not for this reason alone, should this day be
pre-eminent, but because the event, which occurred upon
32 CHRYSOSTOM.
it, was of all events the most stupendous. For that
Christ should die, was the natural consequence of His
having become man ; because although He had committed
no sin, He had assumed a mortal body. But that being
God, He should have condescended to become man, and
should have endured to humble Himself to a degree surpas-
sing human understanding, is of all miracles the most
awful and astonishing. It was at this, that Paul wondered
and said : ' without controversy great is the mystery of
godliness.' What did he say was great? ' that God was
manifest in the flesh.' And again : ' Verily He took not
on Him the nature of angels, but He took on Him the
seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoveth
Him to be made like unto His brethren.' Therefore I
love and honour this day beyond all others, and I hold
up this my love in the midst of you, that ye may likewise
become participators in it. Therefore I beseech you on
this day to leave your houses with zeal and alacrity, and
to be here present, that we may together behold our Lord
wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in the manger. For
what excuse, what pardon can there be for us, if we will
not so much as come hither from our houses to seek Him,
Who for our sakes descended from heaven ? The Magi,
although they were strangers and barbarians, hastened
from Persia, that they might behold the Saviour lying in
the manger ; and shall not we, who are Christians, endure
to measure so short a distance for the enjoyment of this
blessed sight ? For if we approach with faith we shall
surely behold Him lying in a manger. His holy table
will supply the place of a manger. For there will be
spread the Body of our Lord, not wrapped in swaddling
clothes as then, but on all sides surrounded by His Holy
Spirit. Approach then, and make the offering of thy gifts,
not such as were presented by the Magi, but gifts
infinitely more precious. They brought gold ; do thou
bring temperance and virtue : they offered frankincense;
do thou offer the prayer of a pure heart, wjiich is spiritual
frankincense : they presented myrrh ; do thou present
CHRYSOSTOM. 33
humility, meekness, and charity. If thou draw near with
these gifts, thou mayest with much confidence partake of
the Holy Supper."
Again his observations on Lent are worthy of being
remembered :
" Wherefore do we fast during^ these forty days ? Former-
ly many persons partook of the Lord's Supper without due
preparation, and especially at this season in which Christ
instituted that Holy Sacrament. When the fathers per-
ceived the evil consequences arising from this careless
attendance, they met together and appointed a period of
forty days for the purpose of hearing the divine word, for
prayer and fasting, that we being purified during these
forty days by prayer, by giving of alms, by fasting, by
vigils, by tears, by a confession of our sins to God, and by
all other means, might be enabled to approach the holy
table with a conscience as clear as sinners may possess.
And it is evident that the fathers by this condescension
effected much good, in that they thereby habituated us to
fasting. For were we during the whole year to raise our
voices, and to call upon men to fast, no one would heed
our words ; but when the season of the fast arrive ih,
without the exhortation of any one, the most supine are
awakened, and take counsel from the season itself. Should
therefore the Jew or the heathen ask : Wherefore fast ye ?
answer not, on account of the festival of Easter, nor on
account of the crucifixion; but on account of our sins,
because we would draw near to the Lord's Table. For
Easter is not otherwise a time for fasting, nor for grief,
but an occasion of joy and exultation. The death of our
Lord upon the cross hath taken away sin ; it was an expi-
ation for the whole world ; it hath put an end to long
enmity ; it hath opened the doors of heaven ; it hath
reconciled God to those who before were hateful in His
sight, and led them back to heaven ; it hath raised our
nature to the right hand of the Almighty's throne, and
hath acquired for us many other blessings. Wherefore
Paul saith : ' God forbid, that I should glory, save in the
34 CHRYSOSTOM.
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.' And again : ' God com-
mendeth His love towards us, in that, while we were . yet
sinners, Christ died for us.' And St. John expressly
declareth: 'God so loved the world.' In what manner?
Passing by all other things, he holdeth up to us the cross ;
for after saying, * God so loved the world,' he addeth,
'that He gave His only-begotten Son' to be crucified,
' that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.' If then the cross be a proof of
God's love towards us, and an occasion of our exultation,
let us not say, that it is the cause of our grief. For we
grieve not on that account. God forbid ! but on account
of our sins. Therefore we fast."
The festival of Ascension was instituted, according to
Chrysostom, in the remembrance of the glorification of
human nature through Christ. He observes that, " Christ
hath presented to the Father the first fruits of our nature,
and the Father hath valued the gift so highly, on account
of the worthiness of Him Who offered it, and on account of
the sanctity of the thing offered, that He received it with
His own hands, and placed it next Himself: saying,
' Sit Thou at My right hand.' But to what nature did
God ever say, ' Sit thou at My right hand ?' To that
very nature, which once heard the words : ' Dust thou art,
and unto dust thou shalt return.' Willingly do I dwell
upon the lowliness of our nature, that we may learn to
prize in a still higher degree the dignity which hath come
unto us, through the grace of our Lord."
He describes the festival of Pentecost to be a comme-
moration of the Divine Spirit having been communicated
to man, as a proof and pledge of his glorification and
reconciliation to God : " Ten days ago our nature ascend-
ed to tlie Throne of heaven, and to-day hath the Holy
Spirit descended unto our nature. Ten days have scarcely-
elapsed since Christ ascended into heaven, and already
hath He sent down to us the gift of the Spirit, as a pledge
of reconciliation; — that none may doubt what Christ
effected after His ascension; that none may incjuire, if He
CHRYSOSTOM. 35
have reconciled us to the Father. Desirous of proving to
us, that He had propitiated the Father, He straightways
sent unto us the gift of reconcihation ; for when enemies
become reconciled and united together, friendly greetings
and gifts immediately follow the reconciliation. We sent
up faith, and received the gift of the Spirit ; we offered
obedience, and received justification." He afterwards
brings forward proofs of the continued operation of the
Holy Spirit in the Church : " Were not the Holy Spirit
present, we could not name Jesus, Lord ; ' for no man
can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.'
Were not the Holy Spirit present, we, who believe, could
not call upon God, nor say, ' Our Father, which art in
heaven.' For as we cannot call Jesus, Lord ; neither can
we call God our Father, but by the Holy Ghost. For the
same x\postle saith : ' because ye are sons, God hath sent
forth the spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba,
Father.' When therefore ye call God, Father, remember,
that ye have obtained the gift of thus addressing Him,
through the operation of the Holy Spirit within your
souls. Were not the Holy Spirit present, the gifts of
wisdom and of knowledge would not be granted to the
Church ; ' for to one is given by the Spirit the word of
wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same
Spirit.' Were not the Holy Spirit present, there would be
no pastors nor teachers in the Church, ' over the which
the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,' Were not the
Holy Spirit present, the Church would not endure. If,
therefore, the Church endure, it is a proof that the Holy
Spirit is preseut."
He often preached twice in the week, probably on
Sunday and on the Sabbath, Saturday, — which was in
many Eastern Churches appointed for the assembling of
the congregation. He occasionally preached at break of
day, an hour which was perhaps chosen in consequence of
the great heat. Bishop Flavian appears to have acknow-
ledged, and availed himself of the superior attainments of
Chiysostom. On one occasion, after the Bishop in a few
36 CHRYSOSTOM.
preliminary words had addressed his congregation upon a
subject, which in the polemics of that day frequently came
under discussion, he permitted him to come forward and
answer the objections of the heretics, which the congrega-
tion desired to hear refuted by Chrysostom. At another
time, in the early morning, when Chrysostom had preach-
ed a sermon to the catechumens at one of the distant
Baptisteries, and had afterwards arrived at the mother
Church; oppressed by fatigue and expecting to hear a dis-
course from his Bishop ; the latter desired to become the
auditor of Chrysostom, whom he called upon to preach
instead of himself, that the wishes of the congregation
might be accomplished, who were filled with anxiety to
hear him. The eloquence of Chrysostom soon excited
general admiration throughout the city, and attracted men
of all classes to the church. The listeners thronged
around the pulpit, eager to catch each word that he
uttered. At times, when he had preached at greater
length than he had intended, and towards the end of his
sermon feared to have weared his audience, the tokens of
applause becoming louder at every moment, gave him
clearly to understand, that it was their wish still longer to
receive his instruction; and in that age, when men were
more accustomed to hear the word expounded by their
preachers, than to study it in manuscript, a teacher of
such amazing eloquence, as Chrysostom, — who testified by
his own holy life, that the doctrines, which he delivered
with so much power and feeling to others, had a sanctify-
ing and blessed influence upon himself — was capable of
producing effects, which, as St. Jerome says, were wont to
reveal themselves in a zealous performance of all good
works. Chrysostom wrote some of his sermons with care;
some he had composed before hand, but altered according
to circumstances, and others again he delivered unpre-
pared, availing himself of any event of the moment. We
find an instance of the latter, when on a winter-day, as he
bent his steps towards the church, being deeply affected by
the sight of a number of beggars, lying in a miserable
CHRYSOSTOM. 87
state upon the ground, he was moved to commence his
discourse by the folio wiug address : "I have risen to-day
to advocate a cause, just, useful, and worthy of you. I have
been deputed by the mendicants of our city. They have
called upon me, — not by words, — not by votes, — nor by
any common resolve ; but by their frightful and wretched
appearance. For in hastening to this assembly as I
crossed the forum, and passed through the narrow streets,
and saw many of them lying in the midst of the ways, of
whom some were deprived of their hands and eyes, others
covered with incurable sores, and exposing those places
especially, which on account of the putrid gore they dis-
charged. Deeded concealment, I held it to be the most
cruel insensibility not to appeal to your charity in their
behalf; and still more, as the season itself demanded it of
me. It is indeed necessary to exhort men at all seasons
to have pity upon their brethren, as we ourselves need it
so much from our merciful Lord, but now especially
during the severe cold." The second case is exemplified
by those sermons, in which he instantly perceives and
takes advantage of the impression made either by his
words, or by any sudden occurrence in the church ; — thus
upon remarking, that the attention of his hearers was
attracted by the lighting of the lamps in the church, he
exclaimed : " Awake from your inattention ; lay aside your
sloth ; while I explain to you the Holy Scriptures, ye have
turned your eyes to the lamps, and to him, by whom they
are lighted. How great an indifference ! I also kindle for
you a light, the light of the Holy Scriptures ; upon my
tongue burneth the light of instruction, a better and
a greater light, than that upon which ye gaze." It may
likewise be observed, that he suffered himself in a great
degree to be impelled by the feeling of the moment, when,
according to his own confession, the mention of a favourite
theme exercised such power over his mind, that in the
remainder of his homily he occupied himself with the
new subject to the entire exclusion of that with which he
YOL IV. D
38 CHRYSOSTOM.
had commenced ; and on another occasion, when he had
intended to preach a shorter discourse, — upon observing,
that notwithstanding the length at which he had spoken,
the sympathy of his flock, instead of decreasing, con-
tinued to augment, — he was induced, contrary to his
original design, still further to enlarge upon the subject.
In the second year of Chrysostom's ministry an event
took place which spread confusion and dismay throughout
Antioch, and at the same time manifested the influence
which he possessed over his flock. In the year a.d. 387,
one of those imperial decrees, which frequently in that
age of despotism oppressed the cities of the Roman em-
pire, exacted from the Antiochians taxes to all appearance
impossible to be raised. A general alarm was excited
and the irritation of the people was increased by the
severity of the tax-gatherers. Citizens of all classes, from
the highest to the lowest, hastened to the churches, and
implored the Almighty for deliverance. They then
assailed the Imperial governor with complaints and en-
treaties. No redress being obtained, an insurrection took
place, which, as Chrysostom and many of his contem-
poraries maintain, originated in a small number of stran-
gers, collected together from difl'erent countries, and actu-
ated by wantonness or a desire of gain. An application to
the Bishop was frequently made by the citizens in similar
calamities, and by this means relief was sometimes obtain-
ed. At first the discontented sought in the church the
Bishop Flavian, in order probably to procure a diminution
of the taxes through his representations to the Emperor
at Constantinople. Not finding him, they threatened to
storm the house of the governor. Enraged, they hastened
to the market-place, tore down the statues of the Emperor,
of the Empress, and of the young Princes, Arcadius and
Honorius ; and insulted and reviled them with songs.
The more distinguished citizens, who composed the
senate, and administered the general government of the
city, ventured not even to make the attempt of appeasing.
CHRYSOSTOM. 39
the rage of the multitude : they themselves had reason to
fear the anger of the people, and were compelled to seek
concealment. This superior class found itself in the most
embarrassing situation. Impoverished and deprived of
many of their privileges by the tyranny of the government,
they were called upon to exercise the same authority over
the city, as in the days of their former prosperity and
opulence, and even to support greater burthens. The
people vehemently demanded of them assistance and
relief, which they were incapable of affording; and the
Imperial government made them responsible for the insur-
rection of the people, which they could neither prevent nor
suppress.
The incensed populace had already set fire to the house
of the most distinguished citizen, when a body of soldiers,
which had been previously expected, arrived and repulsed
them. The rebellion was in a short time put down. All
those who were taken in the act of crime, of every sex and
age, were immediately condemned and executed by order
of the governor, who dreaded the displeasure of the
Emperor. But this was not enough : the violent temper
of Theodosius was well known, and an insurrection, in
which the busts of the imperial family had been insulted,
was sufficient in those days to call down ruin upon a
whole city. Messengers were dispatched to Constanti-
nople to report the events which had taken place, and to
demand instructions from the Emperor. Until his final
decision became known at Antioch, the most painful
fluctuations of hope and fear prevailed. It behoved the
preacher of the Gospel to take this changing mood into
consideration. Chrysostom had frequently reproved the
frivolous and wicked disposition of those idlers, who spent
the greatest part of their time in the theatre, and had
taken the most active part in this insurrection. He had
often required from the Antiochians not to tolerate that
sacrilegious feeling, which discovers itself in the profan-
ation of every thing sacred, and in a brutal indifference
towards the higher concerns of life. It was remarkable.
40 CHRYSOSTOM.
that on the Sunday preceding the insurrection, he had
more particularly called their attention to this subject in
a sermon preparatory to the annual fast of Lent, — a time
especially consecrated to repentance.
After Chrysostom had held this discourse, a further
opportunity of working upon the minds of his congregation
presented itself. Bishop Flavian, notwithstanding his
advanced age, his infirm state of health, and other circum-
stances, which might have prevented him, was induced by
a paternal solicitude towards his flock, to undertake a
journey to Constantinople for the purpose of making a
personal application to the Emperor. In the mean time,
the fast of forty days preceding Easter had commenced,
which always produced a remarkable change in the lives
both of the rich and poor, and was wont to give to the whole
city a different aspect. The public amusements were sus-
pended, and the people assembled daily in the Church to
offer up prayers, and hear the divine word. The calamity
of the times augmented the severity of the fast, and led
the people to repentance ; and, bereft of human aid, they
were the more disposed to seek refuge in God. After the
departure of the Bishop, Chrysostom had, without doubt,
the chief direction of affairs in the diocese. In the first
discourse which he held after Flavian's departure, he
pourtrayed to the people the paternal love of their Bishop :
" When I behold that vacant throne deserted, and without
its master, I at the same time both weep and rejoice. I
weep, because I see not our father present, but I rejoice,
that he hath undertaken this journey for our preservation,
and hath departed to snatch from the fury of the Emperor
so great a multitude. This is to you, an ornament ; to
him, a crown. An ornament to you, because ye have
chosen such a father, — a crown to him, because he is
attached with so much tenderness to his children, and
hath confirmed by his works the words of Christ. For
having been taught, that ' the good shepherd giveth His
life for the sheep,' he departed ready to lay down his life
for us all. Still there were many obstacles to his depar-
CHRYSOSTOM. 41
ture, — many circumstances inducing him to stay ; — his
advanced age ; his bodily infirmity ; the season of the
year; the necessity of his presence at the approaching
festival ; his only sister lying at the point of death. But
he disregarded alike old age, infirmity of body, the ties of
consanguinity, the asperity of the season, and the difiicul-
ties of the journey ; and preferring to everything your
deliverance, he broke through all these bonds, and as a
youth the old man hasteneth, borne upon the wings of
zeal. For if, said he, Christ ' gave Himself for us,' what
excuse should we have, or what pardon should we deserve,
were we, to whom He hath committed the care of so great
a flock, not ready to do and to suffer all things, for the
salvation of those entrusted to us. For if, said he, the
patriarch Jacob, when set over cattle, feeding irrational
sheep, and about to render an account to man, passed
sleepless nights, and endured heat, frost, and every
extreme of weather, that none of his flock might perish ;
much more behoveth it us, who are not set over irrational,
but spiritual sheep, and are not about to render an
account of our stewardship to man, but to God, to be
watchful and to face every danger for the sake of our
flock. For inasmuch as this flock is better than that
flock, — men better than brutes, and God higher than
man ; in the same degree ought we to exhibit a far more
exceeding diligence and zeal." He then endeavoured to
inspire them with hope : " God will not overlook such
great readiness and zeal. He will not permit his servant
to depart without having accomplished his purpose. I
know that his appearance will suffice to appease the wrath
of the pious Emperor. For not the speech alone, but the
aspect of holy men is full of spiritual grace. Moreover he
is filled with much wisdom, and experienced in the divine
laws, he will speak to the Emperor, as Moses spake to
God: 'Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; — and if
not, blot me, I pray Thee out of Thy book, which Thou
hast written.' For holy men are so filled with love, that
d2
42 CHRYSOSTOM.
they had rather die with their children, than live without
them. He will also call the holy festival of Easter to his
aid ; he will remind him of the season, in which Christ
remitted the sins of the whole world. He will exhort him
to imitate his Lord ; he will recall to his memory the
parable of the ten thousand talents, and the hundred
pence. I know the fearless sincerity of our father, — he
will not hesitate to alarm him by this parable and say :
take heed that thou hear not at the last day : ' 0 ! thou,
wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou
desiredst Me : shouldest thou not also have had compas-
sion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?'
To these words he will add the prayer, which the Emperor
was taught to offer up by those, who gave him the instruc-
tion preparatory to Holy Baptism, and taught him to pray,
and say : ' Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors.' He will then shew, that the transgression of the
city was not general, but proceeded from certain strangers
and adventurers, who did nothing with reason, but con-
ducted themselves with audacity and lawlessness ; that it
would not be just for the folly of a few to raze so great a
city, and to punish those who have committed no wrong ;
and that, though all had sinned, they have made sufficient
atonement, having been consumed by fear so many days,
expecting each day to die, driven away, fugitives, living
more miserably than criminals, bearing their blood in
their hands, and insecure of their lives. Be satisfied, he
will say, with this punishment, and proceed not further in
thy wrath. Render the judge above merciful to thee by
thy mercy towards thy fellow servants. Consider the
greatness of the city, and that it is not a question of one,
two, three or ten souls, but of thousands innumerable, of
the head of the whole world. For this is the city in
which Christians first assumed their name. Honour
Christ ; respect that city, in which was first proclaimed to
men that high and cherished appellation. There was the
resort of the Apostles; there the dwelling place of the
CHRYSOSTOM. 43
just. This is the first instance of sedition against those
in power, and ;J1 past time testifieth for the manners (if
this city. Had its inhabitants constantly rebelled, it
might have been necessary to have condemned them for
their iniquity. But since in the lapse of time this hath
only once come to pass, it is evident that the transgres-
sion hath not arisen from the corruption of the city ; but
from the lawlessness of those adventurers who, to our mis-
fortune, audaciously and foolishly entered it. These things
will the Bishop say ; yea, more than these, and with still
greater confidence. To these things will the Emperor
listen. We have a faithful Bishop and a benevolent
Emperor, — on either side good hope ; but far more than
the fidelity of the teacher or the humanity of the Emperor,
do we place our trust in the mercy of God ; for while the
Emperor is being implored, and the Bishop is imploring,
God himself will stand between, will soften the heart of
the Emperor, and animate the speech of the Bishop." He
then sought to turn their thoughts to God : "I have be-
held many afilicted and cast down while they exclaimed :
' The King's wrath is as the roaring of a lion.' What shall
we say to these men ? That He, Who spake : ' The wolf
also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid, and the lion shall eat straw like the
ox,' will be able to convert this lion into a gentle lamb.
Let us therefore, call upon God, and He will deliver us
from all danger. Let us assist our father with our
prayers. The united prayers of a congregation avail
much, when they proceed from troubled souls and contrite
hearts. We are not called upon to cross the sea, or to
undertake a far journey. Each of us, both man and
woman, either at home or in the church, may with heart-
felt fervour invoke the Almighty, and He will surely hear
our prayers. Wherefore do I know this ? Because it is
His good pleasure, that we should ever take refuge with
Him, — ask Him for every thing, — and neither act, nor
speak without Him. It is the manner of men, that when
we constantly burthen them with our affairs, they become
44 CHRYSOSTOM.
wearied and displeased with us ; — far different is it with
God. Not when we continually have recourse to Him in
our concerns, but when we have it not, — then is He most
incensed. Hear how He accuseth the Jews, saying,
' Woe to the rebellious children, that take counsel, but
not of Me ; and that cover with a covering, but not of My
Spirit.' For this is the way of those who love ; they de-
sire that the affairs of the beloved one should all be regu-
lated by them ; that without them they should neither act
nor speak."
He pointed out to the Antiochians the great comfort to
be derived from a communion with the Church, a com-
munion which the present calamity and fast contributed
to render peculiarly sincere. He said, " We derive no
ordinary consolation from the present season ; for we
daily meet together, and rejoice in hearing the Divine
Word ; we daily behold each other ; pour forth together
our sorrows and supplications ; and before we return home
receive the common blessing. All these things lighten
our affliction." Again: "the forum is deserted, but the
church is tilled. That giveth cause for grief; this for
spiritual gladness. When, therefore, ye come to the
forum and groan at the sight of its desolation, fly to your
spiritual mother, and she will straightwise console you
vllth the multitude of her children ; will discover to you
the united band of brethren, and dispel your grief. We
seek for men in the city as in a desert ; but if we take
refuge in the church we are thronged by the multitude.
As when the sea is lifted up, and driven by the raging
storm, terror constraineth those without to fly into the
harbours, so now the tempest, which hath burst upon our
city, hurrieth every one from all directions into the
church, and uniteth its members by the bond of love."
Again : " Whence could ye derive consolation, if we did
not console you? The authorities of this world terrify
you, — the ministers of the Gospel strengthen you ; — the
Church, our common mother, openeth daily her bosom to
welcome you as her children."
CHRYSOSTOM. 45
Flavian arrived at Constantinople a short time before
Easter, and the success of his mission was greatly advan-
ced by the period of his arrival. The Christians, accord-
ing to ancient usage, celebrated their festivals by acts of
mercy, especially that of Easter, on account of the great
event then solemnized. It was even acknowledged by the
civil code, that during that season mercy ought to prevail.
About this time the Emperor issued to the provinces an
edict, in which he commanded, that all prisoners should
be released in honour of the festival of Easter, and added,
" Would that I were able to recall the executed? Would
that I could raise them and restore them to life !" Bishop
Flavian reminded the Emperor of these words, and they
made a strong impression upon his mind, as Chrysostom
had predicted, when he read that edict to his congregation
for the purpose of consoling them : " Deeply affected,
Theodosius uttered words, says Chrysostom, which became
him more than his imperial crown : ' Is it then,' said the
Emperor, ' wonderful, that we, being men, should remit
our anger against men who have insulted us ; when the
Lord of the world. Who descended upon earth, and took
upon Him for our sake the form of a servant, while cruci-
fied by those, whose benefactor He had been, prayed to
His Father for His murderers, saying, ' Forgive them ;
for they know not what they do ?' Wherefore then are ye
surprised, that we forgive our fellow- servants ?" Theodo-
sius wrote a letter to the Antiochians, in which he
promised to forget their past offences, and Flavian was
commissioned to carry this letter with diligence to his
flock, that it might arrive during Easter, and contribute
to the joy and gratitude with which that festival was cele-
brated. Chrysostom announced these events to his con-
gregation in a discourse on Easter-day, a. d. 387, which
he thus began : — " In the words with which I was wont to
commence my appeal to your love in the period of danger,
in the same words I will commence my discourse to-day,
and say with you, blessed be God ! Who to-day permitteth
us to celebrate this sacred feast with exceeding joy and
46 CHKYSOSTOM.
gladness ; Who hath restored the head to the body, the
shepherd to his flock, the master to his disciples, the
leader to his soldiers, the high-priest to his clergy. ' Bles-
sed be God !' Who doeth exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think." He concluded with the following
exhortation, in allusion to their conduct upon the arrival
of a messenger dispatched by Flavian with the welcome
intelligence to Antioch: "As ye then did, when ye
crowned the market with wreathes of flowers, kindled the
lights, extended the carpets before the workshops, and
celebrated, as it were, the birthday of a city ; — do always,
but in a different manner: crown not the forum with
flowers, but crown yourselves with virtue ; kindle the light
of good works in your souls, and rejoice with spiritual
gladness. Let us not cease to thank God for the mercy,
which He hath shewn to us, and let us confess our great
obligations to Him, not only for having dispelled these
dreadful calamities, but likewise for having permitted
them to impend over us ; for by both of these dispensations
He hath conferred honour upon our city. Declare these
events to your children with prophetic voice ; let your
children relate them to their children ; they again to
another generation; — that all futurity may know the
mercy shewn by God towards this city ; may deem us
blessed to have enjoyed beneficence so great ; may venerate
our Lord, Who hath raised a city thus fallen : and may
thereby be benefited and excited to piety. For the
history of these events will not only greatly benefit our-
selves, if we be constantly mindful of them, but likewise
those who live after us."
These important events induced many of the heathens
at xlntioch to become converts to Christianity.
The XlXth Homily of St. Chrysostom ad pop. Antioch.
is in these days worthy of attention, being addressed to
the presbyters of the distant country parishes, who came
to the metropolis to celebrate Ascension-day. St. Chrysos-
tom represents them as simple persons, chosen from
among the peasantry, deficient in the higher mental
CHRYSOSTOM. 47
attainments, and unacquainted with Greek literature and
accomplishments, although fully capable of propounding
in plain language the essential doctrines of their faith.
During the ensuing year Chrysostom appears to have
been often interrupted in the exercise of his vocation by
sickness, which had been brought on by his former ascetic
practices. When, after a second illness, he was sufficient-
ly recovered to preach again, he began by testifying his
joy at being enabled to re- appear in the midst of his
beloved flock, the separation from whom had been more
painful to him than the disease itself. He then alluded,
as was often his custom, to the sermons preached during
the late fast, by which he had induced a part of his con-
gregation to pass a law among themselves renouncing all
forms of asseveration, except yea and nay. While he
praised those who had entered into an agreement strictly
to fulfil this command of Christ, he at the same time
added, that they must not suppose, that it was enough to
comply with this single injunction ; for the observance of
all the commands of Christ was necessary to form the
harmony of a Christian life ; and he therefore required of
them to obey another more difficult law, that of suppres-
sing anger and revenge, and of forgiving injuries, in sup-
port of which exhortation he explained and applied the
parable of the ten talents.
It is evident from this that he did not see any objection
to the formation of societies, to enable their members to
observe with greater strictness particular duties.
When St. Chrysostom entered upon his ministry at
Antioch, there existed a schism in the Church, which had
been maintained above twenty years in all the rage of
party spirit. Independent of the larger portion of the
community, which looked up to Meletius as their Bishop,
a separate congregation had grown up, which had never
been brought to acknowledge that worthy man, because he
had been appointed to his high office by the influence of
Arians, although his opinions conformed so little to those
of Alius, that he was shortly after his installation, exiled
48 CHRYSOSTOM.
on account of bis opposition to those doctrines. When
Meletius died, a. d. 381, while the council of Constanti-
nople was being held, the schism might easily have been
healed, had it not been arranged according to the
demands of Gregory Nazianzen, and agreeably to the
decision of a former treaty ratified by oaths, that no other
Bishop should be associated with the aged Paulinus. In
that case, after the death of Paulinus, — which could not
have been very distant — the schism would of itself have
subsided. But the arrogant self-will of the Orientalists
permitted not this arrangement; and by the choice of
Flavian in the room of Meletius, the schism was handed
down to succeeding ages. This schism had been accom-
panied by the injurious consequences ever attendant upon
such divisions. Those very persons, who distinguished
themselves by a more than ordinary interest in the con-
cerns of religion and the Church, were led, from a mis-
taken sympathy to engage the most ardently in the cause
of one or other of the contending parties ; and they, who
could have effected so much for their own salvation and
that of others, had their zeal been properly directed,
forgot that the true spirit of Christianity is that of
humility and love. On this point Chrysostom thus expres-
ses himself: " Of those who form our Church, some never
come hither, or once only in the year ; and then they de-
mean themselves carelessly, and are devoid of godly fear.
Others come more frequently, but they likewise behave
themselves irreverently, talking hghtly and jesting about
trifles. They, however, who seem zealous and in earnest,
are the workers of this mischief." He was compelled par-
ticularly to censure the women, who took a vehement part
in those factious disputes, and against them his admoni-
tory discourses were chiefly directed.
Besides this little party, separated from the mother
church, more through accidental circumstances than by
any essential difference of doctrine, there were scattered
throughout the city of Antioch members of other sects,
dissenting from the Church in important points. As they
CHRYSOSTOM. 49
contended with the other Christians upon certain dogmas,
and endeavoured to promulgate their own opinions, Chrj-
sostom considered it to be his duty, by thoroughly refuting
their errors, to guard his congregation against these
attacks, and at the same time to instruct them in the
means of refuting the sectarians in their own discussions
with them. He hoped likewise to turn many from their
mistaken views, as both heathens and heretics attended
his sermons, either attracted by his eloquence, or desirous
of hearing his allegations against them. In order to
obtain a hearing among the unlearned, the heretics com-
monly pretended, that, differing from the Church in no
essential points, they equally believed in Christ, and
equally preached His religion. They appealed to the words
of St. Paul: "What then? notwithstanding everyway,
whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached."
Chrysostom in order to preserve his flock from indiffer-
ence, endeavoured to prove, in a homily upon this passage,
that it had been perverted to an end entirely foreign to its
real signification. He first asserted that St. Paul spoke not
here of what ought to occur, but of what was occuning.
Then, that St. Paul alluded not to those, who under the
name of Christ, promulgated a false religion ; but to those
who delivered the true doctrine from imj)ure motives, and
not from sincere conviction. Against this perversion of
the doctrine of St. Paul, he shews from passages such as
Gal. i. 8, and II Cor. xi. 2, 3, that St. Paul attached
great importance to purity of doctrine, and considered as
deeply injurious the errors which seduced men from the
true faith.
Among the peasantry, and in the smaller towns of
Syria, the Manicheans and Gnostics had always main-
tained themselves, but few of them appear to have resided
at Antioch, — at all events, their influence was slight in
that great metropolis. Chrysostom, therefore, merely
noticed their doctrines incidentally in his sermons, when
he defended the free-will of man against their views of
VOL IV. E
50 CHRYSOSTOM.
predestination and fatality; or when he sought to prove,
in opposition to their tenets, that the body in itself is not
the cause of evil, and that neither the body, nor aught
that is external, can compel men to sin.
The Eunomians were a sect of far greater importance
at Antioch. They were transplanted thither at an early
period, and combatted the doctrine of the true divinity of
Christ, — that the Son was of the same substance with the
Father; and it appears, that their chief leaders, CEtius and
Eunomius, had formerly preached in that city. Soon
after he had entered upon his ministry, St. Chrysostom felt
himself compelled to defend in his discourses this impor-
tant doctrine against the objections disseminated by
members of this sect among his congregation. But for
some time he purposely refrained from attacking them,
because he observed, that many of their party frequented
the church for the sake of hearing him, and he was desir-
ous not to scare them away, trusting, that, if he could
obtain their confidence, his instruction might win a more
easy access to their hearts. He was successful in the
attainment of his object, being iu the first years of his
ministry called upon by the sectarians themselves to state
the opinions he held in opposition to their tenets.
Equally cogent were his arguments against the Proto-
paschites, the Jews, and the Heathens. Many of the
Christians observed, with uneasiness, that some of the
heathens led a life consistent with the ordinary demands
of morality, but that, nevertheless, they continued in hea-
thenism. If there were, among the Christians, those to
whom the true requisites of holiness were unknown, the
idea obtruded itself upon them, that without being Chris-
tians, they might lead a good life and attain to eternal
happiness. In allusion to those, who became thus trou-
bled at beholding a heathen mild, virtuous, and benevo-
lent, remain unconverted, Chrysostom observed : " He
hath perhaps another disease of the soul, vanity, or sloth ;
'he provideth not for his salvation, but thinketh that
CHRYSOSTOM. 51
chance will guide all things to his advantage." Again :
** Tell me not of those who are bj nature modest and
discreet; for theirs is not holiness. But name to me
those who have to struggle with vehement passions, yet
possess the power of controlling them. Tell me not, that
a man leadeth a sober life, and defraudeth no one of his
property : this alone is not holiness ; for of what avail is
it, if a man do these things, and yet be the slave of vain
glory ? or continue in heathenism, because he is ashamed
to desert his friends ? This is not living righteously.
The slave of ambition is not less wicked than the for-
nicator."
In those days the Church did not enjoin as necessary
auricular confession previous to the celebration of the
Holy Communion, nor indeed at any other time. When
Chrysostom exhorts his flock to a confession of their sins,
he means the silent confession of the heart before God.
Since therefore no confession preceded the Lord's Supper,
the liturgy of the communion service w^as so ordered, as
to excite men to self-examination, and to deter those from
approaching the altar, who, on account of their evil lives,
merited exclusion from the congregation. AVith this view,
Chrysostom thus availed himself of the short, but impor-
tant demands of this liturgy : '• Hear ye not the words of
the deacon, during the celebration of the holy communion,
who constantly calleth out : Knoiv one another. Doth he
not entrust to you the strict examination of your
brethren?" That no one might plead as an excuse his
ignorance of the danger connected with an unworthy par-
ticipation of the supper of the Lord, and since no man can
look into the heart of another, the priest, says Chrysostom,
requires all those to retire, whose consciences admonish
them of their own unworthiness ; "for standing aloft,
seen by all, and raising his hand, he calleth in that
moment of awful stillness with a loud and solemn voice :
' Holy things for the holy.' "
At the same time, that he exhorted men to repentance,
he warned them against the delusion of those, who con-
52 CHRYSOSTOM.
sidered atonement for sin to consist in certain mortifica-
tions of the flesh, and other outward performances, an
error which, he says, was particularly prevalent among the
women, and, as he had done in two writings already cited,
he called attention to that Christian repentance, which
sprung from the heart. Thus he says : " Let us not then
despair on account of our sins, neither let us become
slothful ; but while we acknowledge our sins, let our
hearts be contrite, and let not our repentance consist in
mere words. For I know many who profess to grieve for
their sins, and yet give no real proof of their repentance.
They fast indeed and wear sackcloth, but are more greedy
after gain than hucksters ; are more a prey to anger than
wild beasts ; and delight more to speak evil of their
neighbour, than others do to speak good of their neigh-
bour. This is a mere mask, a shadow of repentance ; it
is not repentance. In such cases it were well to say, take
heed, ' lest Satan should get an advantage of us, for we
are not ignorant of his devices.' Some he destroy eth
through their sins, others he bringeth to perdition through
their repentance, by suffering them to gather thence no
fruit. For those whom he cannot ruin in a common way,
he inciteth to greater exertions, that he may render their
repentance unfruitful, by persuading them, that they have
made full atonement for their sins, and may therefore rest
in security. If we fast, and are thereby filled with arro-
gance, our fasting will prove to us an injury, not a benefit.
Humble therefore thine heart, that God may be near to
thee ; for ' the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a con-
trite heart.' If thou have committed sin, lament not,
because thou hast incurred punishment, for that is
nothing ; but because thou hast offended the Lord, who is
so merciful, so good to thee, and so solicitous for thy salva-
tion, that He hath given up His only Son unto death for
thy sake. Lament therefore unceasingly; for thus to
lament, is truly to confess thy sins."
!Neander observes that Chrysostom, anxious to withdraw
from man every prop of immorality, opposed the placing of
CHRYSOSTOM. 53
any confidence in the intercession of the saints, hecause
many were thereby lulled into a state of security and
indolence ; and were restrained from drawing out of the
one fountain of all good, and from applying in the con-
cerns of their souls to the one Eternal Mediator. It is
true, that Chrysoslom did not reject the imploring of the
intercessions of the saints, which custom was beginning to
prevail at that time throughout the Church ; but he
always directed men from the saints, as the mere instru-
ments of divine grace, to God and Christ.
In the year 397 Nectarius, Bishop of Constantinople,
died. Some time was passed in deliberating in the choice
of his successor ; several were proposed, and some priests
offered themselves, offering presents, and even falling on
their knees before the people, who were so scandalized at
it, that they besought the Emperor to look out for some
one worthy of the sacerdotal office. The eunuch, Eutro-
pius, who governed the Emperor Arcadius, had been
acquainted with the virtues and talents of Chrysostom, in
a journey he had made to the East; and at his recom-
mendation Chrysostom was elected Bishop of Constan-
tinople, by the unanimous consent of the people and
clergy, and with the approbation of the Emperor. But it
was so notorious how well he was beloved at Antioch, where
he had officiated as priest for twelve years, and how ready
the people of that city were to raise commotions, that
Eutropius caused the Emperor to write to Asterius,
Count of the East, with orders to send him away without
noise. The count having received the Emperor's letter,
desired Chrysostom to meet him, on pretence of some
business, at a church near the Roman gate. Here taking
him into his chariot, he drove with speed to a place called
Bagras, where he placed him in the hands of an eunuch
and an officer sent to conduct him to Constantinople.
St. Chrysostom found in Constantinople all the vices of
Asia concentrated, and, determining to efiect a reforma-
tion, he commenced with his own household. He sold
e2
54 CHRYSOSTOM.
the sumptuous furniture and rich vessels with which his
predecessor had dazzled the public eye ; and thinking
to maintain the dignity of the episcopate, not by his
splendid equipages, but by his active benevolence, he
established hospitals, and devoted his whole income to
charitable purposes. But while he obtained from the
poor the glorious title of John of Almsdeeds, he offended
the worldly, who respect while they murmur at the mag-
nificence of their prelate. At the same time it appears
from Socrates that his temper was not always under con-
trol, and that his manners were far from conciliatory. In
the church and in the pulpit he was unequaled : but he
was perhaps better adapted to be the preaching presbyter
of Antioch, than to be the representative of the democratic
interest at Constantinople. The remains of the demo-
cracy of the old Roman empire were found in the Church,
where and where only the cause of the plebeian and the
poor was fearlessly maintained, against an aristocracy of
wealth as well as birth. It was through the Church that the
progress of a grinding despotism was checked ; and to put
down the power of the Church was the great object of the
temporal authorities. St. Chrysostom weakened the worldly
power of the Church by doing his duty as a man of God.
His attempt to reform the clergy alienated from him all who
preferred sentiment to self-denial, and who viewed holy
orders with merely professional views. And ecclesiastics,
to indulge their animosity against their bishop, were
willing to unite with the civil authorities to depose him,
while the faction found a powerful leader in the Alexan-
drian patriarch, whose feelings of jealousy had long been
excited against Chrysostom, and who, probably, regarded
with equal jealousy the powers and authority conceded to
the Patriarch of Constantinople. The aristocratic party,
thus strengthened by a division among the ecclesiastics,
were able to degrade for the first time the episcopal
authority at Constantinople, and though their triumph
was -not completed by the fall of St. Chrysostom, an
CHRYSOSTOM. 55
advantage was gained, which was brought ere long to a
successful issue.
St. Chrysostom, hke all the bishops of that age, regarded
the Church as the protector of the oppressed as well as the
poor. It had powder, and that power was exerted to pro-
tect men against the tyranny of the dominant aristocracy,
and even the great men of the empire when injured
sought the protection of that very body which, when in
power, they sought to afflict. This accounts for St. Chry-
sostom's conduct to Eutropius. When disgraced Eutropius
sought sanctuary in the church, St. Chrysostom, as the
great ecclesiastical authority of Constantinople, uuintimi-
dated by threats, extended to hira his protection. The
privilege of the ecclesiastical state was to be maintained ;
but St. Chrysostom had a duty also as bishop to perform,
and therefore to the criminal he addressed himself in the
severest terms.
" Where now," he says, addressing himself to Eutro-
pius, " are your cup-bearers ? your attendants who made
way for you in the streets, and who flattered you ? They
are fled, they have renounced your friendship, they seek
their own safety by your ruin. We do not act thus ; the
Church, to whom you have offered violence, opens her
bosom to receive you ; and the theatres, which you have
supported at so vast an expense, which have so often been
the cause of your indignation agaiust us, have betrayed
you. I say not this to insult over him that is fallen, but
to strengthen those that yet stand." He adds further,
speaking of Eutropius : " Yesterday, when they came from
the palace to force him hence he ran to the sacred vessels,
pale as death, trembling all over, with chattering teeth
and stammering tongue." Then reconnmending him to
their compassion, he adds: "You will say, 'He hath
shut the doors of this sanctuary by divers laws ;' but
experience hath taught him what mischief he hath done ;
he himself is the first that hath broken the law, and his
disgrace is become a warning to all. The altar now
appears more terrible, for it holdeth the lion chained ;
56 CHRYSOSTOM.
like the image of our Prince, treading under foot the
vanquished and captive barbarians." He goes on : " Have
I soothed you f passion ? Have I assuaged your anger?
Have I extinguished your cruelty? Have I raised your
compassion ? Yes, your looks, these torrents of tears
declare it. Come then, let us throw ourselves at the feet
of the Emperor; or rather, let us beseech the God of
mercy, to inspire his heart with pity, that he may grant
us the favour we ask in full. He is already changed; as
soon as he lieard that Eutropius had fled for refuge to
this holy place, he harangued at length his court and
troops, who strove to exasperate him against the criminal,
and were clamorous for his death. The Emperor shed
tears, and made mention of the holy table, whither he
had fled for safety, and thus did he appease their rage.
After this, what mercy can you deserve, if you retain
yours ? How will you approach the mysteries, and say
the prayer in which we entreat forgiveness even as we
forgive ? Let us rather pray to the God of mercy to
deliver this unhappy man from death, and grant him time
to put away his crimes ;" St. Chrysostom refers here to
holy baptism, for Eutropius was a pagan.
This discourse had the desired effect; and St. Chry-
sostom saved the life of Eutropius, but not without
difficulty, and some blows. The people came to the church
in arms, drew their swords, and brought the holy Bishop
to the palace, where he was charged with the discourse
which he had made as with a crime, and threatened with
death. He was unmoved, nor vrould he deliver up
Eutropius, thus proving, as he says, tlie invincible power
of the Church, founded upon the Rock : the Church, he
adds, which consists not in a building, walls, and roofs ;
but in its morality and laws.
St. Chrysostom thus did his duty, and was saving the
people from themselves. They only saw in Eutropius,
the representative of an oppressive aristocracy, although
his had been only the aristocracy of wealth, and having
their oppressor in their power they sought to take ven-
CHRYSOSTOM. 57
geance upon him, not seeing that by the protection that
was extended to him, St. Chrysostom was upholding that
power through which alone their own rights and liberties
could be maintained.
In his office of preacher he was still as successful as
at Antioch. He was an advocate for an evening service.
He exhorted the people to be constant at the church
service of the night, that is, the men who had not leisure
in the day-time ; for as to women, he would have
them stay at home, ond only come to church in the
day-time. " It is necessary," says he, " to remember
God at all times ; but especially when the mind is at rest,
that is, in the night season ; for by day we are interrupted
by other affairs." And in another place : " It was not
intended that we should spend the whole night in sleep
and inactivity. This appears by the practice of handi-
craftsmen, drivers, and merchants ; so also by those of
the Church, who rise at midnight. Do you rise likewise,
and behold the beantifal order of the stars, that profound
silence, that universal repose. The soul is then more
pure, more free, and more elevated ; darkness and silence
excite compunction ; and all men being stretched upon
their beds, as in their graves,' represent the end of the
world. I speak both to men and women ; bend your
knees, sigh and pray; if you have children, wake them
also ; and let your house be like a church in the night-
season. If they have not strength to bear watching, let
them say a prayer or two, in order to accustom them to
rise, and then lie down again." These exhortations gave
' offence to the slothful among the clerks, who were wont to
spend the whole night in sleep.
Chrysostom laboured also to abate the pride of the
rich, and to teach them humility and moderation. "What
reason have you," said he, "to set so great a value on
yourselves, and to think you do us a favour, when you
come to this place, to hear what conduces to your salvation?
Is it your wealth ? Your robes of silk ? Know ye not,
that they are spun by worms, and wrought by the hands
68 CHRYSOSTOM.
of barbarians ? That they are worn by abandoned women,
robbers, the sacrilegious, and by others of character most
infamous ? Descend from this haughtiuess ; reflect upon
the vileness of your nature ; what are ye but earth, dust,
ashes, and vapour? You have, indeed, many men under
your command, but yourselves are slaves to your own pas-
sions. You resemble the man who suffers himself to be
beaten by his servants at home, and boasts of his power
abroad."
His exhortations had so good an effect, that the whole
city of Constantinople daily made a visible progress in
piety. Even those who had been passionately fond of the
horse-race, and the other public shows, forsook the circus
and the theatre, and came in crowds to the church. We
find also very powerful discourses delivered at Constanti-
nople against these abuses. It was in this city that he
expounded, among others, the Epistles to the Ephesians,
to the Colossians, and to the Hebrews, and the Acts of
the Apostles. He preached three times a- week ; and some-
times seven days successively. The crowd was so great at
his sermons, that, to place himself where he might be
heard, he was obliged to quit his usual station, and sit in
the middle of the church, in the reader's desk. Some
came to hear him out of curiosity ; but many became con-
verts, as well pagans as heretics.
St. Chrysostom did not confine his anxious care to his
own Church of Constantinople, but extended it to all the
rest. He reformed the Churches of the six provinces of
Thrace, the eleven provinces of Asia, and the eleven pro-
vinces of Pontus, in all twenty-eight. He applied himself
likewise to missionary labour, and especially to the conver-
sion of the Scythians.
Thus did he gain more and more the affection of the
people by his courage, his piety, and his eloquence, while
at the same time he became more odious to the great, and
a section of his clergy. He came again into collision with
the court, where the Emperor wished to conciliate the bar*
CHRYSOSTOM. 69
barian and Arian Gaines, by granting to him a place of
worship within the city ; St. Chrysostom refused.
The Arians indeed were very numerous at Constanti-
nople, and as they were obliged to hold their assemblies
without the city, they met within the walls near the
public porticoes to go out together, on the solemn days of
every week, that is, on Saturday and Sunday. They sang,
in two choirs, hymns in accordance with their doctrine ;
and after having spent the greater part of the night in this
manner, they went out in the morning, and crossed the
city to repair to their place of assembly. In these
hymns they endeavoured to incense the Catholics, by
saying ; " Where are those who affirm that three things
are but one power ?" St. Chrysostom, fearing lest they
should shake the faith of some of the simple, procured
some Catholics also to sing during the night. The success
did not answer his good intention. The Catholics per-
formed their nocturnal prayers with more display than the
Arians ; they carried silver crosses surmounted with waxen
torches, the invention of St. Chrysostom, and provided at
the expense of the Empress Eudoxia. The Arians, still
insolent from the power they once enjoyed, could not
endure this ; they fell one night upon the Catholics with
such fury, that an eunuch belonging to the Empress,
called Brisco, who was singing with the rest, was wounded
in the forehead with a stone, and some private persons
were slain on both sides. This occasioned the Emperor
to forbid the Arians to sing any more in public, thus re-
newing the prohibition made under the pontificate of
Nectarius, in 396, which forbade their assembling in
the city to perform litanies or prayers night or day. All
which increased the affection of the people for St. Chrysos-
tom, and at the same time procured him enemies.
In the year 400 St. Chrysostom had received a decree
from the clergy of Ephesus, and the neighbouring Bishops,
most solemnly conjuring him, to come and reform that
Church, which had long been afHicted by Arians and bad
Catholics : and to arrest the cabals of those who were
00 CHRYSOSTOM.
endeavouring by money to got possession of the vacant
see. St. Chrysostom, seeing that the question was really
the restoration of discipline throughout the whole diocese
of Asia, whore it had fallen into decay, as much through
the want of pastors as their ignorance, resolved to under-
take the journey, notwithstanding his ill health, and the
severity of the winter. He left the Church of Constan-
tinople to the care of Severian, Bishop of Gabala, in
Syria, who had coine to preach there, and in whom he
placed full confidence ; and took three bishops to accom-
pany him, Paul, Syrian, and Palladius.
During his absence the faction which had been formed
against him gained strength, and a correspondence had
been established with Theophilus of Alexandria. An
accusation had been lodged against Theophilus before
Chrysostom, therefore he had a plea for coming to
Canstantinople in addition to the imperial command.
At length he came, bringing with him a great number of
bishops, who came from I'^gypt, and even from India. He
arrived on Thursday about noon, and was immediately
received with loud acclamations by the J^^gyptian mariners,
who had come with corn to Constantinople. Having
landed, he passed by the church, without entering it
as was usual, and lodged without the city in one of
the Emperor's houses, called Placidiana. Chrysostom
had provided lodgings for him and all his retinue, and
earnestly })resscd them to come to his house, all which
they refused ; and Theophilus would neither see him,
speak to him, pray with him, nor give him any other
mark of communion. Such was his behaviour during
the three weeks he stayed at Constantinople. He never
came near the church, though St. Chrysostom continually
pressed him to go there, to see him, or at least to let
him know the reason why he had thus declared war
against him, from the very moment of his entrance
into the city, and thus caused so much scandal to the
people. Theophilus, however, would never return him
any answer.
CHRYSOSTOM. 61
His accusers, that is, the monks whom he had driven
out of Egypt, urged St. Chrysostom to do them justice ;
and the Emperor, having sent for him, ordered him to
cross the bay, on the other side of which Theophilus
lodged, and hear his cause. He was accused of violence,
murder, and several other crimes. But St. Chrysostom
refused to take cognizance of it, partly out of regard
to Theophilus, but more out of respect to the canons,
which forbade Bishops to judge any cause beyond the
limits of their own province, and upon which Theophilus
himself insisted in the letters, which St. Chrysostom kept
by him.
In the mean time, Theophilus laboured day and night
for the means of driving St. Chrysostom from his see. He
found many persons at Constantinople full of resentment
against him. Acacius, Bishop of Berrhjjea, who had
arrived there some time before, being dissatisfied with the
lodging prepared for him, regarded it as a slight put ui)on
him by St. Chrysostom ; and transported with rage, said
to some of the clergy of St. Chrysostom : " I will dress
him a dainty dish." He entered into a strict friendship
with Severian of Gabala, Antiochus of Ptolemais, and a
Syrian Abbot called Isaac, who made a practice of travel-
ling from place to place, and calumniating the Bishops.
The first thing they did was to send to Antioch, to enquire
into the behaviour of St. Chrysostom in his youth ; and
finding nothing for their purpose, they sent to Alexandria
to Theophilus, who from that time carefully sought some
pretence for accusing him.
In the city of Constantinople itself, Theophilus met
with several who were enemies to St. Chrysostom, namely,
such of liis clergy as were unwilling to submit to the dis-
cipline he would have introduced among them ; and in
particular two priests and five deacons ; two or three per-
sons belonging to the Emperor's court, who procured
soldiers for Theophilus, to assist him in any violent mea-
sures ; and three widows of the first rank, Marsa, widow of
VOL IV. F
69 CHRYSOSTOM.
Promotus, Castricia, widow of Saturninus, both consular
men, and Eugraphia, whose husband is not known.
St. Chrysostom was in the habit of reproving them,
because, though now grown old, they continued to adorn
themselves, and wore artificial hair. The Bishops of Asia,
who had been deposed, were not backward in their resent-
ment. Theophilus was very careful to foment these
animosities. He was profuse in distributing his money,
entertained great numbers of guests, and caressed and
flattered the ambition of the ecclesiastics, by promising
them the highest dignities. He found two deacons whom
St. Chrysostom had expelled the Church for their crimes ;
one for murder, and the other for adultery. He promised
to restore them to their former station ; which he accord-
ingly did after the banishment of St. Chrysostom. On
this assurance he prevailed on them to present petitions
to him, which he had drawn up himself, and were false
in every article except one, which was this : they accused
the Bishop, St. Chrysostom, of advising every body to take,
after the Communion, some water and some pastils, lest
they should cast out with their spittle some part of the
elements, and of doing so himself. Theophilus, having
received this petition, went to the house of Eugraphia
with Severian, Antiochus, Acacius, and the rest of the
enemies of Chrysostom. Being all assembled, they con-
sidered how they should begin to proceed against him.
One of them proposed the presentation of a petition to the
Emperor, to oblige St. Chrysostom to come to their assem-
bly. This advice was put into execution, and money was
not wanting to remove the difficulties that attended it.
It is even said that the Empress Eudoxia was personally
offended with Chrysostom, who, on hearing that she had
incensed St. Epiphanius against him, had, following the
natural heat of his temper, delivered a discourse against
women in 'general, which the people applied to the
Empress. She, being informed of it by some ill-disposed
persons, had complained to the Emperor, and had urged
CHRYSOSTOM. 63
Theophilus to assemble immediately a council against
John.
A suburb of Chalcedon called the Oak, of which
Cyrinus was Bishop, was the place chosen for holding
this council. Cyrinus was an Egyptian by birth, and an
enemy of St. Chrysostom. When Theophilus with the
Bishops in his retinue passed through Chalcedon in their
way to Constantinople, Cyrinus expressed himself with
great resentment against St. Chrysostom, calling him im-
pious, insolent, and inexorable, at which the other Bishops
were much pleased. He was, however, unable to go with
them to Constantinople, because Maruthas, Bishop of
Mesopotamia, had hurt him by accidentally treading on
his foot. But as Theophilus believed Cyrinus' presence
necessary in a council where St. Chrysostom was to be
accused, he resolved to hold it in his city ; as he was be-
sides apprehensive of the people of Constantinople, who
were much attached to their Bishop. The place, then,
where the council assembled, was the suburb of the Oak,
where Ruffinus had built a palace, together with a church
dedicated to the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, and a
monastery.
The charges brought against St. Chrysostom were either
so frivolous, or so notoriously false, that this siugle fact
was sufficient to shew that the members of the council
only sought a pretext for pronouncing sentence upon one
already condemned. Among other charges brought against
him, one was that he had ordained priests in his own
domestic chapel instead of the cathedral ; another that he
had given the Holy Communion to persons who were not
fasting. It would be neither edifying nor interesting to
give in detail the history of these proceedings. It will be
sufficient to state that St. Chrysostom refused to obey the
summons of the council, until his avowed enemies ceased
to act as his judges ; and that he was therefore sentenced
to exile for contumacy and a contempt of the Emperor s
authority.
The next question was, how to put the sentence into
64 CHRYSOSTOM.
execution, a revolt being anticipated on the part of the
people if they saw their Bishop, the fearless protector of
the people's rights, and the redresser of their wrongs going
into exile. His persecutors therefore endeavoured to put
him on board a vessel, ready to receive him, by night ;
but not all their precautions could prevent the intelligence
from spreading through the city, and carrying grief and
consternation along with it. The people ran down to the
beach, demanding with cries his restoration to them, some
exclaiming with all the enthusiasm of the Greek character :
Rather let the sun be blotted from the firmament than the
mouth of John (Chrysostom) be silenced ! others, with tears,
entreating his parting benediction. The lamenting crowd
was like a long funeral train, or some dismal ceremony of
expiatory penance. In proportion as the people were con-
scious of their degradation as a people, they had attached
themselves to this great man, as the defender of their
natural rights : his austere and simple mode of life made
him appear sacred in their eyes ; and in the sincerity of
his language, which applied its censures with still more
rigour to the rich than to the poor, they found a security
for the firmness of his character, alike inaccessible to flat-
tery or to fear.
Two or three days after the departure of Chrysostom
from Constantinople, the shock of an earthquake was felt
throughout the city. The people, not yet recovered from
their grief at his loss, loudly proclaimed that it was a sign
of the displeasure of Heaven against them, for having
suffered him to be taken from them. The clamours in-
creased. Arcadius shook with fear ; the Empress, more
courageous and quick- sighted, said to him, " We shall no
longer retain the empire, if we do not recall John." She
wrote the same night to Chrysostom, inviting him, in the
most courteous terms, to return, and throwing all the
blame of his departure upon his enemies, whose machina-
tions she now affected to see through and deplore. The
Bosphorus was covered with vessels to welcome him back
again. As soon as he landed, he requested to be allowed
CHRYSOSTOM. 6,5
to remain in the outskirts of the city, and not resume the
episcopal office, until he should have been acquitted of the
charges brought against him, by a more numerous council
than that which had condemned him ; but the feelings of
the people were not to be controlled. Thousands ranged
themselves around him with lighted tapers, and, with
spontaneous hymns, and amid an out-burst of holy joy,
conducted him to his church, and insisted upon his
ascending his throne, giving them the benediction, and
addressing them.
Scarcely however, had St. Chrysostom enjoyed a calm of
two months since his return, when a statue was set up at
Constantinople in honour of the Empress Eudoxia. It
was of solid silver, and raised on a column of porphyry,
with a lofty base, in the square situated between the
palace where the Senate was held, and the church of
St Sophia which was opposite this palace, and separated
from it by the square, and by a street that went across it.
It was erected under the Consulate of Theodosius the
younger, and Rumoridus, that is, in the year 408, proba-
bly in the month of September, when the first indiction
began. At the dedication of this statue, great rejoicings
were made, as was customary. These were very solemn
exercises, and still tinged with superstition, as appears by
a law of Theodosius the younger, made twenty-two years
after, to purge them from every thing that might appear
idolatrous in them. On the erection of this statue of
Eudoxia, the Praefect of Constantinople, who was a Mani-
chee, and half heathen, encouraged the people to extra-
ordinary rejoicings. They celebrated it with dances and
shows of farce-players, which drew such loud applauses
and acclamations, that Divine Service w^as interrupted.
But St. Chrysostom, unable to bear these improprieties,
spoke with his usual freedom, and blamed not only those
who actually took part in them, but even those who had
ordered them. The Empress was offended at it, and
resolved once more to assemble a council against St. Chry-
'2f
66 CHRYSOSTOM.
sostom; but he continued firm and resolute, and, it is
said, pronounced upon this occasion a celebrated dis-
course, which began as follows ; " Herodias is again
furious, and again demands the head of John." There is
still extant a speech which begins with these words, and
is an invective against women ; but the general opinion is,
that St. Chrjsostom is not the author. Be this as it may
it is certain that a new conspiracy was formed against
him.
The decision of the Council of the Oak had not been
formally reversed, and his re-assumption of his pastoral
duties might, according to a decree of the Council of
Antioch, with respect to such cases be considered as irre-
gular. In the hope of rendering him liable a second
time to censures on this account, the Bishops of Greece
and of the East convened themselves again at Constan-
tinople, to debate on the measures to be pursued respect-
ing him. Lent being come, this faction had a private
audience with the Emperor, and gave him to understand
that John was convicted, and that he ought to give orders
for his banishment before Easter. The Emperor Arca-
dius not being able to refuse them, ordered St. Chrysostom
to quit the Church. He answered ; " I received this
church from God, for the salvation of the people, and I
may not abandon it ; but as the city is yours, if you are
resolved upon my going, drive me out by force, that I may
have a lawful excuse." Officers were therefore sent from
the palace, but not without some feeling of shame, for this
purpose ; with orders, however, for him to continue in the
episcopal residence. " They waited," says Palladius, '• to
see whether Divine vengeance would display itself, that
they might have the means of restoring him to his church
in the one case, or, on the other, of renewing their ill
treatment."
On Easter Eve he was again commanded to leave the
church, to which he made a suitable reply. The Emperor
fearing both the holiness of the day, and the risk of a
CHRYSOSTOM. 67
tumult in the city, seiit for Acacius and Antiochus, and
asked them: "What must be done? Take care," he
added, " that you have not given me ill advice." They
boldly answered ; "On our heads, my Liege, be the
deposition of John."
Still there was delay in the execution of the sentence
from fear of the people, and some attempts were made to
assassinate St. Chrysostom. Five days after Whitsuntide
which, in the year 404, fell on the fifth of June, Acacius,
Severian, Antiochus, and Cyrinus, went to the Emperor,
and said to him : " You may do your pleasure ; but we
have said to you, on our heads be the deposition of John ;
you ought not to ruin us all for the preservation of a
single individual." The Emperor sent Patricius the
notary, to give orders to St. Chrysostom to recommend
himself to God, and leave the church. After so express a
command, St. Chrysostom came down from the episcopal
residence, with the Bishops his friends, and said to them,
" Come, let us pray, and bid farew-ell to the angel of this
church." Immediately a person of great power, and one
that feared God, and sided with the better party, gave
him the following information : " Lucius, to whose insolent
behaviour you are no stranger, lies now ready in a public
bath, with the soldiers under his command, to carry you off
by force, in case you resist, or hesitate to obey. The city
is in great confusion ; go therefore out of it as speedily
and as privately as possible, for fear the people should
come to blows with the soldiers." On this St. Chrysostom,
(too much affected to take leave of all,) bade farewell to
several of the Bishops, saluting them with a kiss accom-
panied with tears, and said to the others who were in
the sanctuary, " Stay here ; I am going to take some
rest."
Accordingly he w^ent into the baptistery and called
Olympias, (who never left the church,) with Pentadia and
Procula, deaconesses, and Silvia, widow of Nebridius, and
daughter of Gildo: "Come hither," said he to them,
" my daughters, and hear me. My end is at hand ; I
68 CHRYSOSTOM.
have finished my course, and perchance you will see my
face no more. All I ask of you is, not to let your affection
for the Church wax cold ; and should any one be ordained
involuntarily, without any solicitation on his part, and
with the consent of all, to bow the head before him,
as you have before me ; for the Church cannot be without
a Bishop. And as you hope for the mercy of God,
remember me in your prayers." They threw themselves
at his feet dissolved in tears. He signed to one of the
most prudent of his priests, and said to him ; " Remove
them hence, lest they disturb the people." They became
more tranquil ; and he went cut on the side facing the
east, while at the same time some persons, by his order,
got ready his horse on the west side before the great
gate of the church, in order to mislead the people who
were expecting him there. He embarked, and landed in
Bithynia.
He arrived at Nicaea, the capital of that province, on
the 20th of June, 404. But the malice of the Empress
still pursued him, and at her instigation an order came
from the court for him to be removed to Cucusus in the
deserts of Mount Taurus, a barren and cold region griev-
ously infested by robbers, and already marked by the
murder of Paul, a former Bishop of Constantinople. He
sent the following letter to Olympias at the beginning of
the year 405. " I write to you on my deliverance from
the gates of death. Therefore I am rejoiced that those
who came from you did not arrive sooner ; for had they
found me in the extremity of my illness, I could not easily
have deceived you, by sending you good tidings. The
winter, more severe than usual, has increased my stomach
complaint ; and I have j)assed these two last months in a
condition worse than death, since I had only so much life
as left me sensible of my sufferings. All was night alike
to me, the day, the morning, and the noon. I passed
whole days in bed, and tried in vain a thousand inven-
tions to protect myself from the cold. It was to no
purpose that I kept fires burning, endured the smoke,
CHRYSOSTOM. 69
shut myself in mj chamber without daring to stir out,
and loaded myself with a hundred coverings : all the
while I suffered excruciating torments, continual sickness,
head-ache, loss of appetite, and inability to sleep through
those long and tedious nights. But not to pain you any
longer ; I am now recovered : the spring no sooner
arrived, and the weather grew a little milder, than all
my ailments left me of themselves. I am still, however,
obliged to observe a strict regimen in my diet, and to eat
but little, that my digestion may be easier."
And in another letter to the same : " Since you desire
to hear from me, I write to tell you that I am recovered
from my great illness, though I yet feel some effects of
it ; I have good physicians, but we are in want here of
remedies, and other things necessary to restore a wasted
body. We even now foresee a famine and plague : and
to increase our misfortunes, the continual incursions of
robbers make our roads impassable. Therefore I pray
you not to send any one here : for I fear it might be the
cause of their being murdered, which, as you well know,
would exceedingly afflict me." He wrote in the same
manner to a deacon whose name was Theodotus. " It
was no slight comfort to me in this solitude, to be able
constantly to write to you : but the incursions of the
Isaurians have deprived me even of this ; for they have
begun to appear again with the spring ; they are spread
over the country, and have made all the roads impassable.
They have already taken some ladies of rank, and mur-
dered several men." Then he continues ; "After having
suffered very much during the winter, I am now some-
what better, though still uneasy from the unusual severity
of the weather : for we are still in the depth of winter ;
but I hope that the fair weather of summer will disperse
the remains of my illness. For nothing is more injurious
to my health than cold, and nothing does me more good
than warmth." In another letter to the same Theodotus,
he says, " I dare not at this time invite you to Armenia,
so great are our calamities. Wherever we go, we see
70 CHRYSOSTOM.
torrents of blood, multitudes of dead bodies, houses
demolished, and towns destroyed. We thought we should
be safe in this fortress, where we are confined as in a
gloomy prison ; but we can enjoy no peace even here."
" For," he says in another letter, " the Isaurians attack
these places also."
This was the fortress of Arabissus, as appears by the
same letter, and by another, in which he says : " Having
found some intermission, we have taken refuge in Arabis-
sus, where the fortress seemed more secure than any
other ; for we do not reside in the town. But death is
daily at our gates, for the Isaurians devastate the whole
country with fire and sword. We fear a famine, from the
multitude of people blocked up in so close a place." And
in another letter to Polybius he writes : " The fear of the
Isaurians makes every one seek safety in flight : the towns
are nothing but walls and roofs ; the ravines and forests
are become cities. The inhabitants of Armenia are like
the lions and leopards, who find their safety only in the
deserts. We daily change our habitations, like the No-
mades and Scythians ; and often little children, hastily
removed by night in the excessively cold weather, are left
dead in the snow."
These continual alarms obliged him to send back a
young reader, named Theodotus, whom he had taken with
him to instruct and form in piety ; another additional
reason being an affection of Theodotus' eyes, to which very
hot or very cold weather was equally injurious. He
therefore sent him back to his father, a man of consular
rank, and also named Theodotus, and with him the pre-
sents also which his father had made him. He com-
mended the young reader to the deacon Theodotus as his
spiritual guide, and wrote to him himself, consoling him,
and exhorting him to pay great attention to his eyes, and
to apply himself as much as possible to read the Holy
Scriptures. " Study their letter," he says, '* unceasingly,
and some day I will explain to you their sense."
He wrote again to Olympias while he was at Arabissus,
CHRYSOSTOM. 71
probably in the spring of the year 406. " Do not be un-
easy," he says, " at the severity of the winter, my stomach
complaint, or the incursions of the Isaurians. The winter
has been as might be expected in Armenia ; but it has
not been very troublesome to me, by reason of the pre-
cautions which I have taken. I have kept continual
fires, and carefully closed the chamber I live in on all
sides ; covering myself warmly and not going abroad.
This is it must be confessed irksome, but I am willing to
bear it, because I find myself the better for it : for w^hile
I keep my room the cold has no great effect on me ;
but whenever I am forced to go out, and be exposed to
the air even a little, I suffer from it not a little." He
afterwards says, " Do not be concerned at my passing the
winter in this place, for I am in much better health
than I was last year ; and you yourself would have been
less indisposed had you taken proper care of your health."
He enlarges on this subject, and on the value which people
ought to set upon health ; and then continues, " If our
separation afflict you expect to see an end to it. I do not
say this merely to comfort you, but I know it will surely
be so ; otherwise I should have died long since with w^hat
I have suffered. As it is I bear myself so well with so
weak a body, that the Armenians themselves are surprised
at it : for neither the rigour of the air, nor solitude, nor the
want of provisions, and servants to attend me ; nor the
ignorance of physicians, nor the absence of baths, which I
have been accustomed to use continually ; nor the chamber
in which I am daily shut up as in a prison, without taking
my usual exercise ; nor being perpetually over the fire
and in the smoke, and being continually in a state of
siege and alarm ; none of these things has been able to
overwhelm me ; nay, I am even better in health here than
at Constantinople, owing to the care I have taken of
myself,"
The enemies of St. Chrysostom being informed of the
great good he did by his conversion of the infidels in that
neighbourhood, and how celebrated his virtues were at
7-2 CHRYSOSTOM.
Antioch, resolved to remove him to a more distant place.
For Severian of Gabala, Porphyrius of Antioch, and
several other Bishops of Syria were still afraid of him,
though he was in banishment, and they were enjoying
the riches of the Church, and disposing of the secular
power. Therefore having sent to court, they obtained of
the Emperor Arcadius a more severe rescript, to have him
speedily removed to Pityus, a desert place in the country
of the Tzani on the borders of the Euxine sea. The
journey was long, and St. Chrysostom was three months
on the road; though the two soldiers of the Praetorian
prefect, who conducted the holy Bishop, hurried him on
extremely, saying that such were their orders. One of
them, not so self-interested as the other, shewed him
some humanity, as it were by stealth, but the other was
80 brutal that he would make him set out in the heaviest
rain, so that he was drenched to the skin ; and would
make a jest of the most scorching heat of the sun,
knowing how painful it was to the venerable prelate,
whose head was bald ; nor would he suffer him to stop
for a moment in any city or town where there were
baths, that he might not be indulged with that relief.
On arriving at Comana, they went through without
stopping, and rested at a church about five or six miles
from the town, and dedicated to St. Basiliscus, Bishop of
Comana, who had suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia, with
St. Lucian of Antioch. The next morning, contrary to
the earnest remonstrances of St. Chrysostom, they pursued
their journey, and had proceeded rather more than three
miles when St. Chrysostom was taken so extremely ill that
they were obliged to return to the church which they had
left. On arriving there, he changed his garments and
clothed himself in white from head to foot, not having yet
broken his fast. After which he distributed the few things
he had left, among those who were then present ; and hav-
ing received the Communion of the sacred symbols of our
Saviour, that is, the Eucharist, he made his last prayer in
the hearing of all who were present, and added, according
CHRYSOSTOM. 73
to his usual custom, these words : " Glory to God
for all things." Then he pronounced his last Amen,
and stretching out his feet, yielded up his spirit.
There was at his funeral such a vast concourse of
Virgins and Monks of Syria, Cilicia, Pontus, and Ar-
menia, that many thought they had appointed the
meeting. The feast was observed as for a martyr, and
his body was interred near that of St. Basiliscus in the
same church.
He died and was buried on the fourteenth of Sej^tember,
or the eighteenth of the calends of October, under the
seventh Consulate of Honorius, and the second of Theodo-
sius, that is to say, in the year 407. He was about sixty
years old, and had governed the Church of Constantinople
six years to the time of his banishment, and in all nine
years and eight months.
Gibbon says, that the character of St. Chrysostom " was
consecrated by absence and persecution ; the presumed
faults of his administration were no longer remembered,
but every tongue repeated the praises of his genius and
his virtues. The respectful attention of the Christian
world was fixed on a desert spot among the mountains of
Taurus ; from that solitude, the Archbishop, whose active
mind was invigorated by misfortunes, maintained a fre-
quent correspondence with a great variety of persons,
while his letters show a firmness of mind, far superior to
that of Cicero in his exile. He extended his pastoral care
to the missions of Persia and Scythia; negociated with the
Roman pontiff, and the Emperor Honorius ; and boldly
appealed from a partial synod, to the supreme tribunal of
a free and general council. The mind of the illustrious
exile was still independent, though his captive body
was exposed to the vengeance of his oppressors." The
works of St. Chrysostom are very numerous. They con-
sist of commentaries, seven hundred homilies, orations.
Y4 CHYTRiEUS.
doctrinal treatises, and two hundred and forty-two epis-
tles. The best editions of his works are those of Sir
Henry Saville, Eton, 1613, 8 vols, folio, the Greek only;
and Montfaucon's in Greek and Latin, 1718 — 1738, 13
vols, folio. — Neander. Fleury. Tillemont. Dupin. SocraUs.
Sozornen.
CHURCH, THOMAS.
Thomas Church was born in 1707, and educated at
Brazennose College, Oxford. In 1740 he was instituted
to the vicarage of Battersea, and was afterwards promoted
to a prebendal stall in St. PauFs cathedral. He published
A Vindication of the Miraculous Powers which subsisted
in the first three Centuries of the Christian Church, in
answer to Dr. Middleton's Free Inquiry, with a preface,
containing some observations on Dr. Mead's account of
the Demoniacs in his Medie Sacra, 1749. This was fol-
lowed, about a year after, by An Appeal to the serious and
unprejudiced, or a Second Vindication, &c. For these
works the university of Oxford conferred on him the
degree of D.D. by diploma. He also published anonym-
ously An Analysis of the Philosophical Works of the late
Lord Bolingbroke, 1755. He died in 1756. — Nicholss
Bowyer.
CHYTRiEUS, DAVID.
David Chytr>eus was born in 1530, at Ingelfing, in
Suabia. After receiving instruction in Greek and Latin
from Camerarius at Tubingen, and Hebrew at Heidelberg,
he studied theology under Melancthon at Wittemberg.
CIACONIUS. 75
He then travelled in Italy, and on his return to Germany-
was made professor of hermeneutics at Rostock. The
Emperor Maximilian II., Eric XIV., King of Sweden,
Christiern III. and Frederick II., Kings of Denmark, invi-
ted him to their respective kingdoms to establish churches
and schools, and they loaded him with presents. He
mainly contributed to the establishment of the university
of Helmstadt. He died on the 25th of June, 1600. He
wrote: — A Commentary on the Apocalypse, 8vo, 1575.
2. A History of the Confession of xiugsburg. 3. A Chro-
nology of Herodotus and Thucydides. A Collection of
all his works, which are mostly compilations, was printed
at Hanover in 1604, 2 vols, fol. — Melchior Adam. Fraheri
Theatnim.
CIACONIUS, or CHACON.
CiACONius was bora in 1540. He became a Domini-
can and titular Patriarch of Alexandria. A great num-
ber of his works remain ; the most considerable among
which is entitled, Vitse et Gesta liomanorum Pontificum
et Cardinalium, which, vrith the continuation by his
nephew, was published in 1602, two vols, folio; the
sequel down to Clement XII. was published by Marie
Guarnacci, Rome, 1751, 2 vols, folio; Bibliotheca Scripto-
rum ad annum 1583, Paris, 1731, folio; and Amsterdam,
1732, folio. He wrote also, Historia utriusque Belli
Dacici, in Columna Trajana expressi, cum Figuris ^neis,
Rome, 1616, folio. Ciaconius left in MS. a Universal Li-
brary of Authors, which falling into the hands of Camusat,
was published by him with numerous notes, Paris 1732,
folio. This work is a useful repository of authors. Ciaco-
nius died in 1599. — Moreri.
76 CLAGETT.
CLAGETT, "WILLIAM.
William Clagett was born at St. Edmund's-bury, in
1646, and educated at Emanuel College, Cambridge, where
he took his degree of D.D. in 1683. He first became
lecturer at St. Edmund's-bury, but afterwards was chosen
preacher to the society of Gray's Inn. He was also pre-
sented to the rectory of Farnham Royal in Buckingham-
shire, and elected lecturer of St. Michael Bassishaw% Lon-
don. He was chaplain in ordinary to King James XL,
and was one of the divines who made a stand against
Popery in that King's reign. Dr. Clagett died of the small
pox, March 28th, 1688. His works are — 1. A Discourse
concerning the Operations of the Holy Spirit, two parts, 8vo.
The third part was destroyed by fire. Dr. Stebbing abridged
this useful book. 2. A Reply to a pamphlet called the
Mischief of Impositions, 4to. 3. An Answer to the Dis-
senter's objections to the Common Prayer, 4to. 4. Some
Tracts against the Romanists. 5. Four volumes of Ser-
mons, 8vo. — Biog. Brit.
clagett, NICHOLAS.
Nicholas Clagett, younger brother of the preceding,
was born in 1654, and educated first at the free school
of St. Edmund's-bury, and next at Christ's College, Cam-
bridge, where in 1704 he took his doctor's degree. In
1683 he obtained the rectory of Thurlo Parva in Suffolk;
in 1693 he was made Archdeacon of Sudbury, and in 1707
was presented to the rectory of Hitcham. He died in
1727. He published — 1. A Persuasive to an ingenious
trial of opinions in Religion, 4to. 2. Truth defended, and
boldness in error rebuked, against Whiston, 8vo. 3. Some
Sermons. His son Nicholas became Bishop of Exeter,
and died in 1746. — Biog. Diet.
CLARK. 7T
CLARIO, or CLARIUS, ISIDORE.
Isidore Claeius was born in the castle of Clario, near
Brescia, in Italy, in 1495. Dedicating himself to God
from his early years, he became in process of time a Bene-
dictine monk, and a celebrated preacher. He was advan-
ced to the dignity of Abbot of St. Mary de Cesena, and
was sent by Pope Paul III. to the council of Trent, where
in the fifth session which was held on the 17th of June,
1546, he assumed the quality of Abbot of Pontido, near
Bergamo. He was admired in that assembly for his
learning and eloquence, and he was probably in the coun-
cil when Paul III. gave him the bishopric of Foligno, in
Urabria ; he quickly retired to his diocese, and zealously
discharged the duties of his sacred office. He died in
1555. The principal work of Clarius was a reform of the
Vulgate, with annotations upon the difficult passages.
Though he extended this reform only to passages in which
he thought the sense of the original misrepresented, he
asserts that he has corrected it in upwards of 8000 places.
This freedom gave offence to the rigid Piomanists, and the
first edition of his work, printed at Venice in 1542, was
put into the Index Expurgatorius. Afterwards the depu-
ties of the council of Trent allowed it to be read, omitting
the preface and the prolegomena. Clarius was accused of
plagiarism, in having made great use of Sebastian Mun-
ster's annotations on the Old Testament without acknow-
ledgment; the fact is true, but the spirit of the times
would not allow him to quote a protestant author. His
Letters, with two Opuscula, were published at Modena,
1705, 4to.
CLARK, SAjrUEL.
Samuel Clark was born in 1599, at Woolston, in
Warwickshire, of which place his father was vicar above
forty years. He received his education at Emanuel
VOL. IV. H
7K CLARK.
College, Cambridge, after which he entered into orders,
and officiated some time at Shotwick, in Cheshire, from
whence he removed to Coventry, and afterwards to
Alcester, on the presentation of Lord Brooke. Here he
resided nine years, and then became minister of St.
Bennet Fink in London, where he continued till the
Kestoration. During the whole of this period he appears
to have disapproved of the practices of the numerous
sectaries which arose, and retained his attachment to
the constitution and doctrines of the Church, although
he objected to some of those points respecting ceremonies
and discipline, which ranks him among the ejected non-
conformists. In 1660, when Charles II. published a
declaration concerning ecclesiastical affairs, the London
clergy drew up a congratulatory address, with a request for
the removal of re-ordination and surplices in colleges, &c.,
which Mr. Clark was appointed to present. In the
following year he was appointed one of the commissionera
for revising the book of common prayer. When ejected
for non-conformity, such was his idea of schism and
separation, that he quietly submitted to a retired and
studious life. From the Church, which he constantly
attended as a hearer, he says, he dared not separate, or
gather a private Church out of a true Church, which he
judged the Church of England to be. In this retirement
he continued twenty years, partly at Hammersmith, and
partly at Isleworth, revising what he had published, and
compiling other works, all of which appear to have been
frequently reprinted. He died in 1682, universally res-
pected for his piety, and especially for his moderation in
the contests which prevailed in his time. His principal
publications were, — 1. A Mirror or Looking-glass for Saints
and Sinners, containing remarkable examples of the fate
of persecutors, and vicious persons of all descriptions, and
notices of the lives of persons eminent for piety. 2. The
Marrow of Ecclesiastical History, containing the Lives of
the Fathers, Schoolmen, Reformers, and eminent modern
CLARKE. 79
Divines, &c., 1649, 4to. Clark was unquestionably the
first who published any collection of biography in English,
and who is respectfully noticed by Fuller, as his prede-
cessor. In 1650 he published a second part, and both
together, with additions, in a thick quarto of above lOOri
pages, in 1654, with many portraits in wood and copper ;
but the best edition is that of 1675, folio. 3. A General
Martyrology, or abridgment of Fox and of some more
recent authors, 1651, folio; to this, in 1652, he added an
English Martyrology, reprinted together in 1660, and in
1677, with an additional series of the lives of Divines,
4. The lives of sundry eminent persons in this latter age,
1683, folio. 5. The Marrow of Divinity, with sundry
Cases of Conscience, 1659, folio; a treatise against the
toleration of schismatics and separatists, entitled Golden
Apples, or Seasonable and Serious Counsel, &c., 1659,
12mo. In these volumes we have quoted him several
times. — Autobiography. Calamy. Fuller.
CLABK, SAMUEL,
Samuel Claek, son of the preceding, was educated at
Pembroke-hall, Cambridge, where he obtained a fellow-
ship, which he lost in the Rebellion for refusing the
Engagement. He was afterwards preferred to the living
of Grendon, in Buckinghamshire, from whence he was
ejected for non-conformity, at the Restoration. He, died
in 1701. He is chiefly known for his Annotations on the
Bible, 1690, folio. The author of the " Scripture Pro-
mises," was of this family, and was teacher of a congrega-
tion of Dissenters at St. Alban's. — Calamy. Granger.
CLAKKE, SAMUEL.
Samuel Clarke, an Arian heretic of high reputation in
the last century. He was born at Norwich, in 1675, and
was educated at Caius College, Cambridge. He was
80 CLARKE.
highly distinguished as a scholar and as an early advocate
in that university of the Newtonian Philosophy. On his
ordination he became chaplain to Dr. Moore, Bishop of
Norwich. In 1699 he published his practical essays on
Baptism, Confirmation, and Repentance : and in his
reflections upon a book called Amyntor, he skilfully
defended the genuineness of the writings of the apostolical
fathers. By Bishop Moore he was collated to the rectory
of Drayton, near Norwich, and in J 704 he was appointed
to the Boyle Lecture. This gave rise to his treatise on
the Being and Attributes of God. In this treatise he
endeavoured to shew that the Being of a God may be
demonstrated by arguments a priori. He was satirized
by Pope in the following lines, which- he puts in the
mouth of one of his dunces, addressing himself to his
goddess :
Let others creep by timid steps and slow,
On plain experience lay foundations low,
By common sense to common knowledge bred,
And last to nature's cause through nature led.
All- seeing in thy mists we want no guide,
Mother of Arrogance and source of Pride,
We nobly take the high Priori road.
And reason downward till we doubt of God.
In 1706 he removed to the rectory of St. Bennet, Paul's
Wharf, London, and about this time he began to entertain
heretical notions with respect to the Holy, Blessed, and
Glorious Trinity. The liberal divines and low churchmen
of the last century, generally had a tendency to Arianism,
or something worse. Indeed, this is the legitimate ten-
dency of low church views ; the question with such persons
is, how little may a man believe and yet hold the essentials
of religion, so that we may act together. And this question
once asked, will, of course, lower the whole tone of
theology. We ought, on the contrary, to endeavour to
master as many truths as possible, and encourage others
to do so, and it is because this is the desire and endeavour
of our more holy men, that our schools of theology are all
CLARKE. 81
of them in this age higher than they were in the last, the
lowest churchmen among us, and the most popular among
our preachers, taking grounds which their predecessors
would have thought too high.
He was engaged in 1706 in a controversy with the
learned Henry Dodwell ; and he translated into Latin
Sir Isaac Newton's treatise on optics. His Paraphrases
on the four Gospels had been published previously, and
before his perversion to the Arian heresy. He was now,
before he was suspected of Arianism, appointed chaplain
to Queen Anne, and in 1709 he became rector of
St. James's, Westminster ; he also took his doctor's degree,
wuth high honour to himself. In this year he corrected
Mr. Whiston's Translation of the Apostolical Constitu-
tions, and in 1712 he published his beautiful edition of
Caesar's Commentaries.
In 1712 he also published his Scripture-doctrine of ths
Trinity. This, as Bishop Van Mildert observes, was a
new era in polemics. The subject is concisely stated by
that good Bishop in his Life of Waterland.
" Dr. Clarke was a man of far too great importance,
from the strength of his understanding, the depth of his
knowledge, and the extent of his learning, to content him-
self with retailing trite arguments already advanced and
reiterated by the Anti-Trinitarians of the day. Indeed
he disclaimed the character of an Anti-Trinitaiian ; and
appears to have been firmly persuaded, that the doctrine
of the Trinity was a true Scripture-doctrine. His labours
were directed entirely to the proof of this doctrine, in the
sense in which he himself embraced it, and which he
laboured to prove was the sense both of Scripture and of
the Church of England. He stands distinguished, there-
fore, from such writers as Biddle, Firmin, Clendon, Emlyn,
and Whiston, in many prominent features of the doctrine
he advanced ; and consequently, the controversy with him
assumed a very different aspect from that in which Bishop
Bull had been engaged.
" The professed design of Dr. Clarke's book was indis-
89 CLARKE.
putably good. A full and digested collection of all the
texts relating to the doctrine of the Trinity, with a critical
interpretation of them, was a desideratum in theology,
and could hardly fail to be of advantage to the biblical
student. It served also to call off the attention of those
who had hitherto chiefly derived their notions of the sub-
ject from teachers who rested more upon metaphysics,
than upon the pure word of God ; and to bring the whole
matter of dispute into a train of more legitimate discus-
sion.
"Dr. Clarke, however, in this undertaking, set out upon
a latitudinarian principle, which did not augur very favour-
ably of the purpose which it might be intended to serve.
With reference to the Liturgy of the Church of England,
and to public formularies of faith, in general, he assumed
it as a maxim, ' That every person may reasonably agree
to such forms, whenever he can in any sense at all recon-
cile them with Scripture.' He also virtually, if not ex-
pressly, disclaimed the authority of the primitive Christian
writers, as expositors of the doctrines in question ; desiring
it to be understood, that he did not cite their works ' as
proofs of any of the propositions, but as illustrations only ;'
moreover, that his purpose in citing them was oftentimes
to point out their inconsistency with the doctrine they
professed to hold, and thus ' to shew how naturally truth
sometimes prevails by its own native clearness and evi-
dence, even against the strongest and most settled preju-
dices.' These were suspicious declarations, and would
naturally lead to an expectation, that the author might
find occasion, in the course of his work, to exemplify his
principles in a way not quite conformable either with the
sentiments of the primitive defenders of the faith, or with
those of the Church in which he was himself an accredited
teacher.
" Accordingly, the work was no sooner published and
read, than he was accused of applying these principles to
the introduction of opinions irreconcileable with the recei-
V ed doctrines of the Church Catholic in general, and with
CLARKE. 85
those of the Church of England in particular ; and the
work was reprobated as an indirect revival of the Arian
heresy. Among the writers who thus arraigned it, were
men of high character and respectability in the Church.
Dr. Wells, Mr. Nelson, Dr. James Knight, Bishop Gas-
trell. Dr. Edwards, Mr. Welchman, Mr. Edward Potter,
Dr. Bennett, and Mr. Richard Mayo, distinguished them-
selves, with considerable ability, by their animadversions
on this work. On the other side. Dr. Whitby, Dr. Sykes,
and Mr. John Jackson, appeared in favour of Dr. Clarke,
and upheld his cause with zeal and talent. The weight,
however, of public opinion, (so far at least, as related to
members of the Church of England,) preponderated
greatly against him ; and the subsequent proceedings of
the Lower House of Convocation proved, that the persua-
sions of the clergy in general were decidedly adverse to
those which he had espoused."
Not content with this publication. Dr. Clarke assumed
to himself authority to omit or alter the offices of the
Church, which he had sworn to observe, and on Trinity
Sunday, 1713, in order to avoid reading the proper pre-
face in the Communion Service, he omitted the admini-
stration of the Lord's Supper entirely, by which the pious
among his parishioners were greatly shocked, and seriously
injured. He was appointed to his rectory, not to indulge
in his own caprices, but as the servant of the Church, to
administer her offices to her children. This dereliction
of duty, together with the work which has been alluded to,
awakened the suspicions of Convocation, for at that time
the Church of England possessed a convocation, though
unfortunately it was a divided body. The more respect-
able of the clergy were Tories, and, except during the
last years of Queen Anne's reign, the government had
since the revolution been in the hands of the Whigs-
The consequence was that the Bishops were not selected
from the best portion of the clergy ; they were chosen
from their subserviency to a government which in ecclesi-
astical matters was tyrannical, and without reference to
84 CLARKE.
their conduct as clergymen. Between the Bishops and
their clergy there was a want of confidence, and the whole
discipline of the Church hecame relaxed. The lower
house, containing many sound divines, applied to the
Bishops on the 2nd of June, 1714, and stated that
Dr. Clarke's book was at variance with the catholic faith of
the Church of England ; and further, they requested the
upper house to take the matter into their most serious
consideration. The Bishops requested them to specify
the obnoxious parts in writing : and on the 23rd of June
they presented a paper of extracts, declaring their belief
that the passages fully supported their representation
respecting the erroneous character of the book.
At this stage of the inquiry, Dr. Clarke drew up a
qualifying paper concerning his faith, and presented it to
the upper house. In this paper a different view was
maintained from that which was conveyed by the extracts
from the book ; he also promised not to preach on the
subject, nor yet to publish any other books on the Trinity.
In this declarati(m he stated that the third and fourth
petitions in the Litany had never been omitted in his
church, and that the Athanasian Creed had not been
omitted at eleven o'clock prayers, but only at early prayers,
for the sake of brevity, by his curate, and not by his own
appointment.
Soon after, the doctor sent a second explanation to the
Bishop of London, in which he declared that his views, as
expressed in the former paper, were not different from
those which he had maintained in his books. He desired
therefore, that the declaration might be so understood,
and not as a retractation of anything which he had
written.
The upper house expressed themselves satisfied with
these explanations, and informed the lower house that
they did not think fit to proceed farther with the extracts
submitted to their notice. The lower house, on the con-
trary, resolved that Dr. Clarke had made no retractation,
and that his paper was not satisfactory.
CLARKE. 85
Many divines engaged in this controversy, but Dr.
Clarke's system was completely demolished by Dr. Water-
land.
Dr. Clarke assumed to himself the right of selecting or
composing hymns for the use of his congregation ; and
certainly, if a Calvinist may introduce hymns inculcating
the calvinistic heresy, it seems that something may be
said in palliation of Dr. Clarke's conduct in this par-
ticular. But how he could reconcile it to his conscience
to retain his situation as rector of St. James's it is difficult
to conceive. The doxology was altered by him thus :
To God through Christ, His only Son
Immortal Glory be :
And
To God through Christ, His Son, our Lord
All Glory be therefore.
From this scandalous attempt to introduce his heresy into
the Church by a side wind, the Bishop of London com-
pelled him to desist.
Although he reconciled it to his conscience to retain
his rectory, he is said to have more than once refused a
bishopric. It is highly probable that, through the
influence of Queen Caroline, he would obtain a bishopric,
for it is known that over the mind of that unhappy
woman he exercised considerable influence, for she died
an Arian heretic, refusing to receive the Holy Eucharist.
In 1727 Dr. Clarke refused the office of master of the
Mint, and in 17-29 he published his Homer. On the
11th of May this year he was taken ill, and on the 17th
he died, persisting, according to Bishop Hoadley, in his
heresy to the last
He left a widow and five children, having in his life-
time lost two.
According to his express desire, the same year as his
death, was published his Exjjosition of the Church Cate-
VOL IV. I
86 CLARKE.
chis7n : of which the following account is given by Bishop
Van Mildert : he studiously inculcated that religious
worship should be paid to the Father only, through the
Son, and in the Holy Spirit ; implying, that it is not paid
to either of these as their own due, but only through or
by them, ultimately to the Father. He represented also
the work of redemption, and that of sanctification, to be
from the Father only, by the Son and the Holy Ghost ; as
if these were merely instruments in His hand ; and that,
consequently, to Him, and not to them, is the glory exclu-
sively to be ascribed. Other passages of similar tendency
occur in this treatise, more or less derogating from the
essential divinity of our Lord and of the Holy Spirit;
passages, which Dr. Waterland illustrates by reference to
others in Dr. Clarke's Modest Plea, expressing more fully
and unreservedly what is covertly advanced in this
Exposition.
Dr. Waterland observes farther, that Dr. Clarke, in
explaining that answer in the Catechism which states our
belief in God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Ghost, " says nothing of God the Son, or God the
Holy Ghost : he never asserts the divinity of either, never
so much as gives them the title of God:" — moreover that
the titles and attributes ascribed to the Son and the Holy
Ghost, as well as to the Father, were so interpreted by
Dr. C. as to adapt them to those lower notions of their
divinity, which he had elsewhere maintained. Even the
form of baptism, in the name of each person in the
Trinity, he explained in such a way as to denote that we
are dedicated to the service and worship of God the
Father only.
These were points which had already been debated
between Dr. Clarke and Dr. Waterland, in their former
controversy. The subsequent remarks introduced a fresh
topic, not indeed unconnected with the others, but which
had not before been brought into discussion, though in
itself of no inconsiderable importance.
CLARKE. 87
On the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, Dr. W. objects
that the Exposition is by no means full and satisfactory ;
since the account given of the atonement by Christ seems
to place all its efficacy in our Lord's pure and spotless
character, not in any inherent propitiatory virtue belong-
ing to it ; nor, as Dr. W. observes, is it conceivable, that,
" supposing Christ to be a creature only. He could have
such a degree of merit, by anything He could do or suffer,
as thereby to purchase pardon for a whole world of
sinners."
Again ; the Exposition imperfectly stated the sense in
which the Eucharist may be called a sacrifice ; ascribing
to it that character in no higher acceptation than might
be ascribed to any other service of praise and thanks-
giving ; not taking into account that it is a solemn com-
memoration and representation to God of the sacrifice
offered on the cross, and an act of covenant also, in which
we lay claim to that, as our expiation, and feast upon it, as
our peac€-offering.
The same inadequate representation is charged upon
the Exposition, respecting the benefits of this holy sacra-
ment ; which Dr. Clarke represented to be nothing more
than that assurance of blessing and assistance from God
which accompany all religious and virtuous habits ; bene-
fits arising naturally from the good dispositions of the
recipient, and not from any special gifts of grace, or
spiritual advantages, communicated through the medium
of the sacrament itself. Dr. Clarke, indeed, expressly
says " of the two sacraments, in common with other posi-
tive institutions, that they have the nature only of means
to an end, and that therefore they are never to be com-
pared with moral virtues." On the contrary, Dr. W. con-
tends, that "moral virtues are rather to be considered
as means to an end, because they are previous qualifica-
tions for the sacraments, and have no proper efficacy
towards procuiing salvation, till they are improved and
rendered acceptable by these Christian performances."
88 CLARKE.
He asks, " What is the exercise of moral virtue, but the
exercise of obedience to some law, suppose of charity or
justice? But the worthy receiving of the sacrament of
the Lord's Supper is at once an exercise of obedience to
the law of Christ, and of faith, of worship, and of repent-
ance, and carries in it the strongest incitement, not only
to all moral virtues, but to all Christian graces." Neither
is there good reason " for slighting positive institutions
in general, in comparison with moral virtue." Man s' first
offence was breaking a positive precept. Abraham's obedi-
ence to a positive command obtained for him the special
favour of God. Obedience to positive institutions is an
exercise, and sometimes the noblest and best exercise,
of that love of God, which is the first and great com-
mandment: and there may be, in some cases, greater
excellency and more real virtue in obeying positive pre-
cepts, than in any moral virtue. Not that these should
be opposed to each other; since both are necessary,
and perfective of each other. "But," he adds, "if they
must be opposed and compared, 1 say, moral virtue is
but the handmaid leading to the door of salvation,
which the use of the sacraments at length opens, and
lets us in."
Bishop Van Mildert also remarks that there is reason
to believe that Dr. Clarke's opinions had taken deep root
among several communities of protestant dissenters, and
that to this cause may be traced some of the multifarious
schisms into which they were subsequently divided.
Hence, at least, appear to have arisen the several Unita-
rian congregations, which succeeded to the Arian, and
which are now for the most part, become Socinian. In
the West of England these opinions have ever since con-
tinued to have abettiors. The Arian meeting-house at
Exeter retained its appropriate designation long after
other congregations of the kind had dispersed, and were
forgotten. It has now, however, passed into other hands :
and the Unitarians of the present day, who still abound
CLARKE. 8d
In that district, would probably bo almost as reluctant to
subscribe to Dr. Clarke's creed, as to that of Dr. Water-
land. — Bishop Hoadleys Life of Dr. Clarke. Bishop Van
Mildert's Life of Dr. Waterland. Lathhurys Hist, of Con-
vocation. Whistons Memoir of Clarke.
CLARKE, A LURED.
Altjred Clarke, a benevolent English divine, was bom
in 1696. After receiving his early education at St. Paul's
School, he was admitted pensioner of Corpus Chiisti
College, Cambridge, of which he was made fellow in 1718.
In 17-23 he was collated to the rectory of Chilbolton, in
Hampshire, and was soon after installed prebendary of
Winchester. He was appointed one of the chaplains in
ordinary to George I. and George II., and was promoted
to a prebend in the church of Westminster in 1731. In
1740 he was advanced by the King to the daauery of
Exeter ; and died the same year. His printed works are
few, consisting only of four occasional sermons, and an
Essay towards the Character of Queen Caroline, published
in 1738.
As a man, his character stands very high. He is said
to have spent the whole surplus of his annual income in
works of hospitality and charity; and determined with
himself never to have in reserve, how great soever his
revenue might be, more than a sum sufficient to defray
the expenses of his funeral. The most remarkable instance
of his active benevolence was in the case of the sick hos-
pital at Winchester. Its institution, which was the first
of the kind in England, those of the metropolis only
excepted, owes its existence chiefly to the industry and
indefatigable zeal of Dr. Alured Clarke, who in 1736
recommended the scheme to the public by every art of
persuasion, and was so successful, that the first annual
subscription amounted to upwards of £600. And when
the great utility of such a foundation became more ap-
2i
90 CLARKE.
parent, its revenue soon increased to upwards of a £1000
per annum, and institutions of a like nature were in a
short time established throughout the kingdom. The
orders and constitutions of Winchester Infirmary were
drawn up by Dr. Clarke, and are a proof of great wisdom
in a branch of political economy, at that time very little
understood. He began a similar institution upon his
removal to Exeter, (where he had, with his usual liberality,
expended a large sum of money upon the repair of his
deanery house,) but did not live long enough to see his
laudable design fully executed. — Masters. Hist, of Corjnis
Christi College. History of Winchester.
CLABKE, JOHN.
John Clarke was born at Norwich. He was bred to
the business of a weaver, but afterwards went to the
university of Cambridge, where he proceeded to the degree
of D.D. By the interest of his brother he obtained a
prebend in Norwich cathedral, was appointed chaplain in
ordinary to the King, and lastly promoted to the deanery
of Salisbury. He died in 1759. Dean Clarke preached
the Boyle's Lecture, and published the sermons with the
title of the Origin of Evil, 2 vols, 8vo. His other works
are, a translation of Rohault's System of Physic, 2 vols,
8vo ; another of Grotius de Veritate, with Le Clerc's Notes
8vo ; and the Notes belonging to Wollaston's Religion
of Nature.
CLARKE, SAMUEL.
Samuel Clarke was born at Brackley, in Northampton-
shire, in 1623. He became a student at Merton College,
Oxford, and in 1648 took his masters degree. In 1650
he kept a school at Islington, where he assisted in
Walton's Polyglott. In 1Q58 he returned to the univer-
CLAUDE. 91
sit J, and became superior beadle of law, as also architypo-
graphus, being the last person who united the two offices.
He died in 1669. His works are — 1. Variae lectiones et
observationes in Chaldaicum paraphrasim, inserted in the
sixth volume of the Polyglott Bible. 2. Scientia metrica
et rhythmica : seu tractatus de jDrosodia Arabica ex Autho-
ribus probatissimis eruta, 8vo. 3. Septimum Bibliorum
Polyglottum volumen cum versionibus antiquissimis,
non Chaldaica tantum, sed .Syriacis, ^thiopicis, Copticis,
Arabicis, Persicis contextum. This last is in MS. There
goes under his name a translation out of Hebrew into
Latin, of a piece called Massereth Beracoth, 8vo. 1667. —
Wood.
CLAEKSON, DAVID.
David Clakkson was born at Bradford, in 1622, and was
educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge, of which college he
became a fellow. He was tutor to Tillotson, and obtained
the living of Mortlake, in Surrey. On the Restoration he
became a non-conformist, and died in 1686. Of his works,
which principally consist of occasional sermons, and a
volume of sermons, in folio, the most remarkable were,
one entitled No Evidence of Diocesan Episcopacy in the
Primitive Times, 1681, 4to, in answer to Dr. Stillingfleet ;
and another on the same subject, printed after his death,
under the title of Primitive Episcopacy, 1688 ; this was
answered by Dr. Henry Maurice in 1691, in his Defence
of Diocesan Episcopacy. — Gen. Diet.
CLAUDE, JOHN.
John Claude was born at Sauvetat, near Agen, in 1619.
He studied divinity at Montauban, and there entered the
protestant ministry in 1645, and ministered in the church
of la Treyne, whence he was removed to St. Afric, in
Rovergne, and eight years after to Nismes. Here he also
92 CLAUDIUS.
remained eight years, and being prohibited to exercise the
functions of a minister in Languedoc, he went to Mon-
tauban, and settled in 1616 at Charenton. He was en-
gaged in controversies with Bossuet, Arnauld, Nicole, and
other distinguished Romanists. On October 2'2nd, 1685,
the day on which the revocation of the edict of Nantes was
registered at Paris, Claude, at ten in the morning, was
ordered to leave France in twenty-four hours. On his
arrival in Holland, he received a large pension from the
Prince of Orange. He used to preach occasionally at the
Hague ; and his last sermon was on Christmas-day, 1686,
at the conclusion of which he was seized with an illness,
of which he died on the 13th of January following. His
life, written by M. de la Devaize, was translated into
English, and published in London, 1688, 4to. It is very
eulogistic, but there does not appear to be anything in the
volume which would be interesting or edifying to the
readers of this work. His Historical Defence of the
Pteformation was published in English by T. B., London,
1683, 4to; and his Essay on the Composition of a
Sermon, which he wrote about the year 1676, for the use
of his son, was translated and published in English, in
1778, by Mr. Robinson, of Cambridge, 2 vols, 8vo, with a
Life of the Author, and notes. A new edition was pub-
lished in 1796, by the Rev. Charles Simeon, of King's
College, Cambridge. — Devaize.
CLAUDIUS, CLEMENS.
Clemens Claudius was born in Spain at the close of
the 8th century, and was a disciple of Felix, Bishop of
Urgel, whom he accompanied into France, Italy, and Ger-
many, but whose errors he afterwards renounced, and
obtained access to the court of Louis le Debonaire, Em-
peror and King of France, who admitted him among his
almoners and chaplains, and in 817 promoted him to
the see of Turin. He soon after began to exercise the
CLAUDIUS. 93
duties of his function, by ordering all images, and even
the cross, to be cast out of the churches, and committed
to the flames. The year following he composed a treatise,
in which he not only defended these vehement proceedings,
and declared against the use, as well as the worship of
images, but also broached several other opinions, that
were quite contrary to the notions of the multitude, and
to the prejudices of the times. He denied, among other
things, in opposition to the Greeks, that the cross was to
be honoured with any kind of worship ; he treated relics
with the utmost contempt, as absolutely destitute of the
virtues that were attributed to them, and censured with
much freedom and severity those pilgrimages to the holy
land, and those voyages to the tombs of the saints, which,
in this century, were looked upon as extremely salutary,
and particularly meritorious. This noble stand, in the
defence of true religion, drew upon Claudius a multitude
of adversaries ; the sons of superstition rushed upon him
from all quarters; Theodemir Dungallus, Jonas of Orleans,
and Walafridus Strabo united to overwhelm him with
their voluminous answers. But the learned and venerable
prelate maintained his ground, and supported his cause
with such dexterity and force, that it remained triumphant,
and gained new credit. And hence it happened, that the
city of Turin and the adjacent country were, for a long
time after the death of Claudius, much less infected with
superstition than the other parts of Europe.
His commentaries on several parts of the Old and New
Testaments are still extant in MS. in various French
libraries. The only works of his that have been published
are, his Prefaces to the Book of Leviticus, and to the
Epistle to the Ephesians, and his Commentary on the
Galatians, Paris, 154-2, in which he everywhere asserts
the equality of all the Apostles with St. Peter, owns Jesus
Christ as the proper head of the Church, and inveighs
against the doctrine of human merits, and against mak-
ing tradition of co-ordinate authority with the divine
word. He maintains salvation by faith alone, admits the
94 CLAYTON.
fallibility of the Church, exposes the futility of praying
for the dead, and of the idolatrous practices then supported
by the lioman see. He died in 839. — Mosheim, Dupin.
Moreri.
CLAYTON, ROBERT.
This unprincipled man was born in 1695, in Dublin,
his father being dean of Kildare. He was educated at
Westminster School and at Trinity College, Dublin. He
married a daughter of Chief Baron Donellan, and in
many ways evinced a benevolent disposition. A benevo-
lent action on his part was the cause of his introduction
to Dr. Samuel Clarke, whose life has already been given,
and by Dr. Clarke his principles were corrupted : he be-
came an Arian heretic. Through Clarke he was introduced
to (Jueen Caroline, and by her recommended to Lord
Carteret when he was at the head of the Irish govern-
ment. The consequence of this recommendation was
that Clayton was offered the bishopric of Killala, and
though an Arian heretic, though obliged to subscribe the
articles, though compelled to declare his unfeigned assent
and consent to all and every thing contained in and pre-
scribed by the Book of Common Prayer, the wretched
man perjured himself and accepted the office, and was
afterwards translated first to Cork, and then to Clogher.
His first publication was an Introduction to the History
of the Jews, afterwards translated into French. His next
work was the Chronology of the Hebrew Bible vindicated;
the Facts compared with other ancient Histories, and the
Difficulties explained, from the Flood to the Death of
Moses ; together with some Conjectures in Relation to
Egypt during that Period of Time ; also two Maps, in
which are attempted to be settled the Journeyings of the
Children of Israel, 1747, 4to. In 1710 he published a
Dissertation on Prophecy, which was followed by an Im-
partial Enquiry into the Time of the (Joming of the
Messiah, in two letters to an eminent Jew. In the same
CLAYTON. 95
year (1751), appeared the Essay on Spirit ; a performance
which excited very general attention, and was productive
of a sharp controversy. Its object was to recommend the
Arian doctrine of the inferiority of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and to prepare the way for corresponding
alterations in the Liturgy. This work, though ascribed
to Dr. Clayton, was, in fact, the production of a young
clergyman in his diocese, whom he befriended so far as to
take the expense and responsibility of the publication
upon himself. Clayton fathered the work and had the
discredit of it. The Essay was demolished by the power-
ful pen of Jones of Nayland. It is thus spoken of by
Bishop Warburton in a letter to Bishop Hurd, " The
Bishop of Clogher, or some such heathenish name, in
Ireland, has just published a book. It is made up out of
the rubbish of the heresies ; of a much ranker cast than
common Arianism. Jesus Christ is Michael, and the Holy
Ghost, Gabriel, &c. This might be heresy in an English
bishop, but in an Irish, it is only a blunder. But thank
God, our bishops are far from making or vending heresies;
though for the good of the Church, they have excellent
eyes at spying it out wherever it skulks or lies hid."
He had before this, we may presume, kept his Arianism
to himself. He was now the avowed champion of this
heresy, and bad as the times were, they were not such as
would tolerate the advancement of an Arian, or, we may
presume, a Sabellian to an archie piscopal see. In 1752
he was recommended by the Duke of Dorset, then viceroy
of Ireland, to the vacant archbishopric of Tuam ; but this
was refused, solely on account of his being regarded as
the writer of the Essay. In 1752 he published A Vindi-
cation of the Histories of the Old and New Testament ;
in answer to the Objections of the late Lord Bolingbroke ;
in two letters to a young nobleman, 1752, Bvo ; an able
work. In 1754 he published the second part of his Vin-
dication of the Histories of the Old and New Testament,
which was successfully attacked by Alexander Catcott.
On the ^ud of February, 17 56, he openly avowed his
U6 CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS.
Arian principles, by proposing in the Irish House of
Lords, that the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds should for
the future be left out of the Liturgy of the Church of
Ireland. In 1757 he pubUshed the third part of his
Vindication of the Histories of the Old and New Testa-
jnent, in which he renewed his attacks upon the Trinity,
and gave up so many doctrines as indefensible, and ad-
vanced others so contradictory to the Thirty-nine Articles,
that the Bishops of the Church of Ireland determined to
proceed against him. Accordingly the King ordered the
lord-lieutenant to take the proper steps towards a legal
prosecution of the Bishop of Clogher. A day was lixed
for a general meeting of the Irish prelates at the house of
the primate, to which Dr. Clayton was summoned, that he
might receive from them the notification of their inten-
tions. A censure was certain ; a deprivation was appre-
hended. But, before the time appointed, he was seized
with a nervous fever, of which he died on the 26th of
February, 1758. — Biog. Brit. Nicholss Bowyer. War-
burtons Letters.
CLEMENS, TlTUS FLAVIU8 ALEXANDRINUS.
From Eusebius we learn that this eminent father of
the Christian Church, who flourished between the years
192 and '217, was a convert from heathenism. According
to Epiphanius he was by some called an Athenian, by
others an Alexandrian, whence Cave infers that he was
born at Athens, and studied at Alexandria ; of the Church
of Alexandria, according to Jerome, he became a presbyter.
He had for his master Pantoenus of Alexandria, and after
his decease he himself became master of the catechetical
school, where he had for his hearer the celebrated Origen.
"When Severus began a persecution against the Chris-
tians, for which he pleaded a rebellion of the Jews (for the
pagans had not as yet learned to distinguish Jews and
Christians,) Clemens left Egypt to escape the violence of
it; and upon this occasion he drew up a discourse, to
CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS. 97
prove the lawfulness of flying in times of persecution. He
then went to Jerusalem, and took up his abode for some
time with Alexander, who was soon after Bishop of that
see. From Antioch he returned to Alexandria. The
time of his death is not known, hut he is supposed to
have lived till about the close of Caracalla's reign.
St. Jerome gives the following list of his works ; —
STpw/xoTc'i? in eight books.
Hypotyposes in eight books.
One book addressed to the Gentiles.
Three books entitled TTatoaywyoj.
One book concerning Easter.
A Discourse concerning Fasting.
A Discourse, entitled, " Who is the Rich man that
shall U Saved ?"
One book on Slander.
One on the Ecclesiastical Canons, and against those
who follow the errors of the Jews, addressed to Alexander,
Bishop of Jerusalem,
This account of the works of Clemens is principally
derived from Eusebius, who also mentions an Exhortation
to Patience, addressed to the newly Baptized. The ad-
dress to the Gentiles, the Pfedagogus, the Stromata, and
the tract entitled " Who is the Rich Man that shall be
Saved ?"' have come down to us nearly entire. Of the
other works we have only fragments.
The works of Clemens Alexandrinus are deeply interest-
ing, as throwing light upon the manners and modes of
thought prevalent in his time. This observation is espe-
cially applicable to the Stromata. His works are not so
important perhaps as some others to the theological
student, but he would not omit to read an author so full
of interest, assisted as he now is, by the valuable work of
Bishop Kaye; and there is much in this father which
strengthens the cause of the Church of England against
the peculiarities of R^jme. Speaking of angels, Pjishop
Kaye remarks, tliat we find in Clemens nothing to coun-
VOL. JV. K
m CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS.
tenance the notion that prayers ought to be addressed
to them. He represents them, as well as men, as pray-
ing for blessings from God. Speaking of the heretics,
Clemens says, "that they did not transmit or interpret the
Scriptures agreeably to the dignity of God ; for the under-
standing and the cultivation of the pious tradition, agree-
ably to the teaching of the Lord delivered by the Apostles,
is a deposit to be rendered to God. — The Scriptures are
to be interpreted according to the canon of the truth.
Neither the prophets, nor the Saviour Himself, announced
the divine mysteries so as to be easily comprehended by
every one, but spoke in parables ; which will be under-
stood by those who adhere to the interpretation of the
Scriptures according to the ecclesiastical rule ; and that
rule is, the harmony of the law and the prophets with the
covenant delivered by the Lord during His presence on
earth. "
When we proceed to inquire what were the mysterious
truths which had been thus transmitted by unwritten
tradition, and were unfitted for the ear of the common
believer, we shall find that they consisted chiefly of pre-
cepts for the formation of the true Gnostic — the perfect
Christian. The use to which the Romish Church applies
unwritten tradition and the Disciplina Arcani — in order
to account for the total silence of the first ages of
Christianity respecting certain doctrines which it now
requires its followers to believe, as necessary to salvation-
receives no sanction from the writings of Clemens. The
same Scriptures were placed in the hands of Clemens'
Gnostic, and of the common believer ; but he interpreted
them on different principles ; he affixed to them a higher
and more spiritual meaning. The same doctrines were
proposed as the objects of his faith, but he explained
them in a different manner ; he discovered in them
hidden meanings which are not discernable by the vulgar
eye. Clemens' Esoteric system agrees only in one respect
with the Romish Disciplina Arcani; it is equally desti-
tute of solid foundation.
CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS. 99
Far, however, from teaching his Gnostic to rely on
unwritten tradition, Clemens says, " that they who are
labouring after excellence, will not stop in their search of
truth, until they have obtained proof of that which they
believe from the Scriptures themselves." He alleges that
the heretics perverted the Scriptures according to their
lusts ; that they did not obey the Divine Scriptures, and
kicked off the tradition of the Church. He says that, in
cases in which it is not sufficient merely to state a
doctrine, but we are also required to prove what we affirm,
we then do not look for human testimony, but appeal to
the voice of the Lord, which is a greater surety than all
demonstration ; or rather is the only demonstration. With
reference to this knowledge, they who merely taste the
Scriptures are believers; they who proceed further are
accurate indexes (yvw/xovE?) of the truth; they are Gnos-
tics. Thus w^e, bringing proof respecting the Scriptures
from the Scriptures themselves, rest our belief on demon-
stration. Clemens says, that the Gnostic follows witherso-
ever God leads him in the divinely inspired Scriptures ;
and couples clear demonstration from the testimony of the
Scriptures with knowledge (r)' yvwo-i?), when he speaks of
the remedies of ignorance. He opposes the tradition of
the blessed Apostles and teachers, which was in agree-
ment with the divinely-inspired Scriptures, to human
doctrines ; and repeatedly asserts the unity of the Aposto-
lic tradition.
Clemens, says Bishop Kaye, uniformly connects Regen-
eration with Baptism. " The Paedagogue," he says, " forms
man out of the dust, regenerates him with water, causes
him to grow by the Spirit." The effects of baptism are
thus described. " Our transgressions are remitted by one
sovereign medicine, the baptism according to the Word
(xoyiKw jSaTTTiVjotaTt). We are cleansed from all our sins,
and cease at once to be wicked. This is one grace of
illumination, that we are no longer the same in conversa-
tion (tov t^ottov) as before we were washed ; inasmuch
as knowledge rises together with illumination, shining
100 CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS.
around the understanding; and we who were without
learning (a|u,a9E'tV) are instantly stjled learners {jxa^rtral),
this learning having at some former time been conferred
upon us ; for we cannot name the precise time ; since
catechetical instruction leads to faith, and faith is instruct-
ed by the Holy Spirit in baptism," Our flesh is said to
become precious, being regenerated by water.
There is a very strong passage in the Paedagogue, lib. 1 .
cap 6. which is not that we remember, quoted by Bishop
Kaye. " Being baptized we are illuminated, being illumi-
nated we are made sons, being made sons we are perfected,
being perfected we are immortahzed. — This work is
variously denominated ; grace, and illumination, and per-
fection, and laver : laver, by which we wipe off sins ; grace,
by which the penalties due to sins are remitted ; illumina-
tion, by which that holy and salutary light is viewed, that
is, by which we gaze on the Divine Being." Baptism is
here supposed to be the instrument of illumination,
remission, adoption, perfection, salvation; under which,
jointly considered, must be comprehended all that con-
cerns justification, though the name itself is not used.
Dr. Waterland remarks that he had elevated sentiments
of the Christian Eucharist, but such as require close
attention to understand. He writes thus :
" The Blood of the Lord is twofold, the carnal by which
we are redeemed from corruption, and the spiritual by
which we are anointed : to drink the Blood of Jesus is to .
partake of our Lord's immortality. Moreover, the power
of the Word is the Spirit, as blood is of the flesh. And
correspondently, as wine is mingled with water, so is the
Spirit with the man : and as the mingled cup goes for
drink, so the Spirit leads to immortality. x\gain, the
mixture of these two, viz. of the drink and of the Logos
together, is called the Eucharist, viz. glorious and excel-
lent grace, whereof those who partake in faith are sancti-
fied, both body and soul. The Father's appointment
mystically tempers man, a divine mixture, with the Spirit
and the Logos : for, in very deed, the Spirit joins himself
CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS. 101
with the soul as sustained by him, and the Logos with the
flesh, for which the Logos became flesh." What I have
to observe, saj's Dr. Waterland, of these Hnes of Clemens,
may be comprised in the particulars here following.
1. The first thing to be taken notice of, is the twofold
Blood of Christ: by which Clemens understands the
natural blood shed upon the cross, and the spiritual blood
exhibited in the Eucharist, namely, spiritual graces, the
unction of the Holy Spirit, and union with the Logos,
together with what is consequent thereupon. As to parallel
places of the Fathers, who speak of the anointing in the
Eucharist, with the Blood of Christ through the Spirit, the
reader may consult Mr. Aubertine ; or Bishop Fell in his
notes upon Cyprian. St. Jerome seems to have used
the like distinction with Clemens between the natural
and spiritual Body and Blood of Christ. If we would
take in all the several kinds of our Lord's Body, or all
the notions that have gone under that name, they amount
to these four. 1. His natural body, considered first as
mortal, and next as immortal. 2. His typical, or sym-
bolical body, viz. the outward sign in the Eucharist.
3. His spiritual body, in or out of the Eucharist, viz.
the thing signified. 4. His mystical body, that is. His
Church. But I proceed.
■2. The next observation to be made upon Clemens is,
that he manifestly excludes the natural body of Christ
from being literally or locally present in the Sacrament,
admitting only the spiritual ; which he interprets of the
Logos and of the Holy Spirit, one conceived more parti-
cularly to sanctify the body, and the other the soul, and
both inhabiting the regenerate man. Which general doc-
trine, abstracting from the case of the Eucharist, is founded
in express Scripture, and may by just and clear conse-
quence be applied to the Eucharist, in virtue of the words
of the institution, and of John vi. and other texts, besides
the plain nature and reason of the thing.
3. Another thing to be observed of Clemens is, that as
K-2
102 CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS.
he plainly rejects any corporal and local presence, sr) does
he as plainly reject the low notions of the figurists, or
memorialists ; for, no man ever expressed himself more
strongly in favour of spiritual graces conveyed in the
Eucharist.
4. It may be farther noted, which shows our author's
care and accuracy, that he brings not the Logos and tloly
Spirit so much upon the elements, as upon the persons,
viz. the worthy receivers, to sanctify them both in body
and soul. He does indeed speak of the mixture of the
wine and the Logos ; and if he is to be understood of the
personal, and not vocal. Word, he then supposes the
Eucharist to consist of two things, earthly and heavenly,
just as Iremeus before him did : but even upon that sup-
position, he might really mean no more than that the com-
municant received both together, both at the same instant.
They were only so far mixed, as being both administered
at the same time, and to the same person, receiving the
one with his mouth, and the other with his mind, strength-
ened at once in body and in soul. Clemens, in another
place, cites part of the institution, by memory perhaps, as
follows : "He blessed the wine, saying, Take, drink ; this
is my Blood. This blood of the grape mystically signifies
the Word poured forth for many, for the remission of sins,
that holy torrent of gladness." Three things are obser-
vable from this passage : one, that the wine of the Euchar-
ist, after consecration, is still the blood of the grape:
another, that it is called the Blood of Christ, or Blood of
the Logos, (as Origen also styles it,) symbolically signify-
ing and exhibiting the fruits of the passion : lastly, that
those fruits are owing to the union of the Logos with the
suffering humanity. These principles all naturally fall in
with the accounts I have before given."
Clemens' woi'ks were published, with a Latin transla-
tion, by J. Potter, 2 vols, folio, Oxford, 1715 ; and also at
Wurzburg, 3 vols. 8vo. 1780. — Works. Eusebius. Kaye.
Cave. Waterland. hardner.
CLEMENS ROMANUS. 103
CLEMENS, EOMANUS.
It will be unnecessary to state all that is said of this
apostolical father in Tillemont and Cave, since the facts
they state, as is admitted by the learned writers them-
selves, are of questionable authority. In truth, very little
is known of Clemens or Clement, except that he is the
same Clement of whom St. Paul speaks as one of his
fellow labourers, (Phil. iv. 8.) whose names are in the
book of life. Origen, Eusebius, and others of the ancients
assert this as a fact of which there was no doubt. St. Ire-
naeus assures us that at least he saw the Apostles, that he
conversed with them, and when he was made Bishop of
Rome, the sound of his preaching was still, as it were,
ringing in his ears ; that he always placed before his eyes
the rules which they had given him and the example of
their behaviour. It is also certain that he was Bishop of
Rome. But there is much difficulty in settling the succes-
sion of the first Bishops of that see. Bishop Pearson
supposes, that Clemens was Bishop of Rome from the
year of our Lord 69, or 70, to the year 83, the second of
Domitian : Pagi, that Clemens succeeded Linus in 61,
and sat in the see of Rome till 77, when he abdicated,
and died long after a martyr in the year 100. Those
learned men, who place the bishopric of Clemens so early,
or that suppose he might write this epistle before he was
Bishop, (as Dodw^ell,) usually place it before the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem. Archbishop Wake concludes, that thi^
epistle was written shortly after the end of the persecution
under Nero, between the 64th and 70th year of Christ. Le
Clerc places it in the year 69, and Dodwell in 64. Dupin,
Tillemont, and others think, he was not Bishop till the
year 91 or 93. This is the more common opinion, and is
agreeable to the sentiments of Irenseus, Eusebius, and
others, the most ancient Christian writers. Of the former
of two epistles ascribed to him, Clemens is universally
regarded as the author. The epistle is written in the
name of the whole Church of Rome to the Church of
104 CLEMENS ROMANUS.
Corinth. And therefore it is called at one time the epistle
of Clemens, and at another the epistle of the Romans to
the Corinthians. The main design of it is to compose
some dissensions, which there were in the Church of
Corinth about their spiritual guides and governors, which
dissensions seem to have been raised by a few turbulent
and selfish men among them. Upon this occasion Cle-
mens recommends not only concord and harmony, but
love in general, humility, and all the virtues of a good life,
and divers of the great articles and principles of religion.
The style is clear and simple. It is called by the ancients
an excellent, an useful, a great and admirable epistle.
And the epistle still in our hands deserves all these com-
mendations : though not entire, there being some pages
wanting in the manuscript of it : and though we have but
one ancient manuscript of it remaining.
Tillemont observes that Photius finds fault with three
things in this epistle to the Corinthians ; one is, that
St. Clemens supposes certain worlds lying beyond the
ocean ; another, that he tells the story of the Phoenix as
real matter of fact ; and the third, that he only uses such
w^ords as shew the humanity of Jesus Christ, calling Him
High Priest and our Head, but saying nothing of Him
great and noble, or that expresses His divinity
The first of these remarks should give us no great
trouble, since we know assuredly what the ancients ad-
vanced only with uncertainty. For that expression cited
by St. Jerome, St. Clement of Alexandria, and Origen,
signifies, according to the last, nothing but what we call
the Antipodes. As to the Phoenix, if it is a fault in
St. Clemens to mention it, it is common to him with
many very considerable authors, both Christian and
Pagan. St. Cyril of Jerusalem cites this passage without
having anything to say against it. With regard to the
third point, it would be sufiicient to justify St. Clemens,
to consider that as Photius acknowledges himself, he says
nothing but what is agreeable to the faith of the Church
upon the divinity of Jesus Christ : to which we may add,
CLEMENS ROMANUS. IQS
that according to St. Athanasius, it was the custom of the
Apostles to speak more commonly of our Saviour's
humanity than of His divinity. But even in this epistle
there is mention made of the sufferings of God, which
Photius probably did not observe, and which is sufficient
to condemn at once both Arianism and the heresy of
Nestorius.
This primitive Bishop of Eome did not arrogate to
himself papal power; if he had pretended to any such
power as that which the popes of Rome now assume, he
would have issued his commands to the Church of
Corinth, whereas he merely ventures to give them advice,
and that not in his own name, but in the name of the
Church, the address of the epistle being, " The Church
of God which is at Rome to the Church of God which is
at Corinth, elect, sanctified, by the will of God, through
Jesus Christ our Lord ; grace and peace from Almighty
God by Jesus Christ be multiplied upon you."
" If," says a modern writer, " the claims of authority be
well grounded, they will, of course, be highest when nearest
to their source : yet upon this supposition how unaccount-
able is the conduct of Clemens and the Church of Rome.
We have here the first instance upon record in which that
Church thought proper to interpose in the religious con-
cerns of its brethren. It might, therefore, have been ex-
pected, that the Bishop of Rome should have begun with
asserting his own sovereign authority over the Corinthian
and all other Churches ; should have required implicit
obedience to his mandates; and, in case of non-compliance,
denounced the rebellious assembly cut off from the body
of the faithful : yet, as if it were intended by Providence,
that the first known interposition of a Roman pontiff in
the affairs of another Church should remain as a lesson of
humility, or a reproof of arrogance to his successors, the
evangelical author of this epistle seems purposely to ex-
tenuate his authority even over his own people ; merges
even his own name in that of his Church ; and though he
reproves the misconduct of the Corinthians with freedom,
106 CLEMENS ROMANUS.
and even with dignity, yet it is only with the freedom of
a benevolent equal, and the dignity of a grieved friend.
But above all, humility and patience are conspicuous : no
'holy rage,' no zeal calling for judgments, no asperity of
reproach : but prayers and intreaties, or, at most, expostu-
lations and arguments, constituted, at that time, the spi-
ritual weapons of the Roman Church."
Dr. Waterland shews that he holds the view of justi-
fication by faith as retained in the Church of England,
in opposition to the Trentine doctrine. Clemens says :
" They (the ancient Patriarchs) were all therefore greatly
glorified and magnified ; not for their own sake, or for
their own works, or for the righteousness which they them-
selves wrought, but through His good pleasure. And we
also being called through His good pleasure in Christ
Jesus, are not justified by ourselves, neither by our own
wisdom, or knowledge, or piety, or the works which we
have done in holiness of heart, but by that faith by which
Almighty God justified all from the beginning." " Here,"
remarks Dr. Waterland, "it is observable, that the word
faith does not stand for the whole system of Christianity,
or for Christian belief at large, but for some particular
self-denying principle by which good men, even under the
patriarchal and legal dispensations, laid hold on the mercy
and promises of God, referring all, not to themselves or
their own deservings, but to divine goodness, in and
through a Mediator. It is true, Clemens elsewhere, and
St. Paul almost every where, insists upon true holiness of
heart and obedience of life, as indispensable conditions of
salvation, or justification ; and of that, one would think
there could be no question among men of any judgment
or probity : but the question about conditions is very
distinct from the other question about instruments ; and
therefore both parts may be true, viz. that faith and obedi-
ence are equally conditions, and equally indispensable
where opportunities permit ; and yet faith over and above
is emphatically the instrument both of receiving and
holding justification, or a title to salvation."
CLEMENS ROMANUS. 107
St. Clemens asserts the doctrine of apostolical succession
thus, " The Apostles have preached to us from our Lord
Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ from God. Christ, therefore,
was sent bj God ; the Apostles by Christ, Both missions
were in order, according to the will of God. Having,
therefore, received their commission, being thoroughly
assured of the resurrection of our Lord, and believing in
the Word of God, with the fullness of the Holy Spirit,
they went abroad, declaring that the kingdom of God was
at hand. Thus they travelled through different countries
and cities, and appointed the first-fruits of their ministry,
after they had proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops
and deacons over those who should afterwards believe.
" The Apostles themselves were informed by our Lord
Jesus Christ, that contentions would arise concerning the
ministry. On this account, therefore, they not only them-
selves ordained ministers, as we have before mentioned ;
but also gave directions that on their decease, other chosen
and approved men should succeed them. We cannot,
therefore, but think it unjust to eject such persons from
the ministry as were ordained (with the approbation of the
whole Church) either by the Apostles or holy men succeed-
ing them ; who have ministered to the tlock of Christ in
a humble, peaceable, and disinterested manner, and for a
series of years have been well reported of by all. For
surely it is a sin of no small magnitude to dismiss from
that office such blameless and holy pastors ! Happy are
those presbyters, who have already finished their course,
and died in the fruitful discharge of their labours; they
have now no reason to fear that any one should remove
them from the place appointed for them. But, alas ! we
learn that you have ejected some excellent ministers,
whose blameless lives were an ornament to their profession.
Ye are contentious, brethren, and zealous for things which
belong not to salvation. Search the Scriptures, the faith-
ful records of the Holy Spirit. There you find that good
men were persecuted indeed, but by the wicked ; were
imprisoned, but by the unholy ; were stoned, but by trans-
108 CLEMENS ROMANUS.
gressors ; were murdered, but by the profane, and by such
as were unjustly incensed against them. Let us, there-
fore, unite ourselves to the innocent and righteous, for
they are God's elect.
" Why are there strifes, angers, divisions, schisms, and
contentions, among you ? Have you not all one God, and
one Christ? Is not one Spirit of grace poured out upon
us all, and one calling of Christ bestowed upon us all ?
Why then do we rend and tear the members of Christ,
and excite seditions in our own body? Your schism
has perverted many, has discouraged many, has staggered
many. It has caused grief to us all ; and, alas ! it con-
tinues still."
As the nature of this epistle is practical, no very regular
or precise statement of doctrine is to be expected. Still,
however, the essential doctrines of revelation are clearly
exhibited. He thus, for instance, plainly states his senti-
ments respecting redemption by the atonement of Cluist.
" Let us look steadily at the Blood of Christ, and see how
precious His Blood is in the sight of God ; for on account
of its being shed for our salvation, the grace of repentance
is provided for all mankind." In the following passage
we have the infinite condescension of Christ stated as
a ground for enforcing Christian humility. " Our Lord
Jesus Christ, the sceptre of the majesty of God, came not
in the pomp of pride and ostentation, though he could
have done so, but in humihty. You see, brethren, the
example He afforded us. If the Lord thus humbled
Himself, how should we too demean ourselves, who are
brought by Him under the yoke of His grace."
There are extant fragments of a second epistle of
Clemens, which, however, the best critics consider to be
spurious. It breaks off abruptly in the middle of the 1 2th
chapter, and there is no evidence of its having been writ-
ten to the Corinthians. Both epistles were found at the
end of the New Testament in a MS. brought from Alexan-
dria, and were published by Patrick Junms : Sancti Cle-
mentis Romani ad Corinthios Epistolae duie expressae ad
CLEMENS ROM ANUS. 109
Fidem MS. Cod. Alexandrini, Oxford, 1633 ; and again
by H. Wotton, Cambridge, 1718. An edition of all Cle-
mens' works, genuine and spurious, was published with
learned commentaries by Cotelerius, in his collection of
Patres Apostol., Paris, 167'2 : and again by Le Clerc,
Amst. 1698.
Archbishop Wake remarks that there is not any less
controversy among learned men concerning the death
of St. Clemens, than there has been about the order and
time of bis succession to his bishopric. That be lived
in expectation of martyrdom, and was ready to have
undergone it, should it have pleased God to have called
bim to it, the epistle we are now speaking of suffi-
ciently shews us. But that he did glorify God by those
particular sufferings which some have pretended, is a
matter of some doubt. For, first it must be acknowledged
that Ruffinus is one of the first authors we have that
speaks of him as a martyr. Neither Eusebius (who is
usually very exact in his observation of such things), nor
any of the fathers yet nearer his time, as Irenaeus, Cle-
mens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, &c. take any notice of it.
And for the account which some others have yet more
lately given us of the manner of his death, besides that
in some parts it is altogether fabulous, it is not improba-
ble but that, as our learned Mr. Dodwell has observed,
the first rise of it may have been owing to their confound-
ing Flavins Clemens, the Roman consul, with Clemens
Bishop of Rome ; who did indeed suffer martyrdom for
the faith about the time of which they speak, and some
other parts of whose character, such as his relation to the
Emperor and banishment into Pontus, they manifestly
ascribe to him.
However, seeing Eusebius refers his death to the third
year of Trajan, famous for the persecution of the Church,
and may thereby seem to insinuate that Clemens also then
suffered among the rest ; and that Simeon Metaphrastes
has given a long and particular account of his condem-
V<»J, IV. L
110 CLERC.
nation, to the mines first, and then of his death following
thereupon ; as I shall not determine anything against it,
so they who are desirous to know what is usually said
concerning the passion of this holy man, may abundantly
satisfy their curiosity in this particular, from the accurate
collection of Dr. Cave, in the life of this Saint, too long to
be transcribed into the present discourse. — S8. Patrum
Ajjostolicorum ojMra Genuina Cura Hicliardi Bussell,
Eusebius. Irenaus.. Tillemont. Cave. Cotelerius. Wake.
Lardner.
CLEEC, JOHN LE.
John le Cleec was born at Geneva in 1657, and early
displayed his talents, having read all the best Latin and
Greek authors in his sixteenth year, and in 1676 he
commenced his theological studies, with the lectures of
Mestrezat, Turretin, and Tronchin. In 1678 he went to
Grenoble, whence he returned in 1679 to Geneva, and
was ordained, but without attaching himself to any par-
ticular Church. He now studied the works of Curcellaeus
and Episcopius, and adopted a system of divinity so
different from that publicly received at Geneva, that he
resolved to return to Grenoble. He then went to Paris,
and thence to London, where he arrived in May 1682.
The climate of England not agreeing with him, he left it
in 1683, in company wdth Gregorio Leti, whose daughter
he afterwards married, and embarked for Holland ; and in
1684 w^as chosen professor of philosophy, belles lettres, and
Hebrew, in the Remonstrant college at Amsterdam, which
post he held as long as he lived. He wrote a vast number
of books, of very unequal merit, on all sorts of subjects.
Those which made most impression at the time concern
Biblical history and theological controversy, such as Latin
Commentaries on various Books of the Bible, 5 vols, folio,
Amsterdam, 1710 — 1731 ; Harmonia Evangelica, in Greek
and Latin, folio, 1700 ; Traduction du Nouveau Testa-
CLERC. Ill
ment, avec des Notes, 4to, 1703. These works pleased
neither the Roman Catholic nor Protestant divines, from
their having a tendency to Socinianism, a leaning which
is still more manifest in another work generally attri-
buted to him, entitled Sentimens de quelques Theologiens
de Hollande touchant I'Histoire Critique du Vieux Tes-
tament, followed by a Defence of the same work, 2 vols,
8vo, 1685. In these the author openly attacks the
inspiration of the Scriptures, and the very foundation of
Revelation. He published his Ars Critica, 3 vols, 8vo,
1712 — 1730, a work which is much esteemed; he also
edited the Bibliotheque Historique et Universelle, a
periodical begun in 1687, and closed in 1693, making
26 vols, 12mo, the first eight of which he wrote in con-
junction with De la Crose ; the Bibliotheque Choisie,
1712 — 1718, 28 vols, 12mo; and the Bibliotheque An-
cienne et Moderne, 1726 — 1730, 29 vols, 12mo. He also
wrote: 1. Parrhasiana, ou Pensees diverses sur des
Matieres de Critique, d'Histoire., de Morale, et de Poli-
tique, 2 vols, 12mo, 1701. 2. Histoire des Provinces
Unies des Pays Bas, from 1650 to 1728, 2 vols, folio,
Amsterdam, 1738, 3. Histoire du Cardinal de Richelieu^
2 vols, 12mo, 1714. 4. Traite de ITncredulite, 8vo, 1733;
a clever work, in which he examines and discusses the
various motives and reasons which occasion many to reject
Christianity. He wrote many polemical works and
pamphlets, most of which were tinged with bitterness and
dogmatism ; this is especially apparent in his controver-
sies with Simon, Cave, Bayle, and Burman. He also
published a supplement to Moreri's Dictionary, and
several editions of ancient classics ; among others, Livy,
Ausonius, Sulpicius Severus, &c. His edition of Menan-
der's and Philemon's fragments was severely criticised
by Dr. Bentley. A Life of Erasmus, extracted from his
letters, given in the Bibliotheque Choisie, has served as a
basis for Jortin's Life of that illustrious scholar. He also
edited the noble edition of the works of Erasmus, 10 vols,
folio, 1703 — 1707. In 1728, while he was giving his
112 COOCEIITS.
lecture, Le Clerc suddenly lost the use of his speech
through a paralytic stroke. His memory also failed him,
and he lingered for some years in a state. bordering upon
idiotcy. He died at Amsterdam, in 1736. — Moreri.
COBDEN, EDWARD.
Edward Cobden was educated at Trinity College, Oxford,
from whence he removed to King's College, Cambridge,
where he took his master's degree in 1713. He after-
wards returned to his former college, and took there hia
doctor's degree in 17'23. He became chaplain to Bishop
Gibson, who gave him the rectories of St. Austin and
St. Faith, London, Acton in Middlesex, a prebendary at
St. Pauls, and the Archdeaconry of London. He is cele-
brated for a sermon entitled, a Persuasion to Chastity,
which he had the virtue and boldness to preach before the
profligate court of George IL The sermon gave such
offence, that he was deprived of his place of royal chap-
lain, and was much distressed in circumstances before his
death, which happened in 1764, aged 80. He published
a volume of poems, and another of sermons. — Nichols'&
Bowyer.
COCCEIUS, JOHN.
John Cocceius was born at Bremen, in 1603, where he
received his primary education ; he then went to Ham-
burg, where he became acquainted with a learned Jew,
and perfected himself in the Oriental languages, which
he had begun to study at Bremen. Thence he went to
Frankfort where he became professor of Hebrew in 1636.
In 1649 he obtained the chair of theology at Leyden,
where he continued till his death, having formed a school
of theology which was long distinguished by his name.
He was a profound Hebrew scholar, and, as Mosheim
observes, he might have passed for a great man, had his
COCCEIUS. 113
vast erudition, his exuberant fancy, his ardent piety, and
his uncommon appUcation to the study of the Scriptures,
been under the direction of a sound and solid judgment.
This singular man introduced into theology a multitude
of new tenets and strange notions, which had never before
entered into the brain of any other mortal, or at least had
never been heard of before his time : for, in the first
place, his manner of explaining the holy Scriptures was
totally different from that of Calvin and his followers,
departing entirely from the admirable simplicity that
reigns in the commentaries of Calvin. Cocceius repre-
sented the whole history of the Old Testament as a mirror,
that held forth an accurate view of the transactions and
events that were to happen in the Church under the dis-
pensation of the New Testament, and unto the end of the
world. He even went so far as to maintain, that the
miracles, actions, and sufferings of Christ, and of His
Apostles, during the course of their ministry, were types
and images of future events. He affirmed, that by far
the greatest part of the ancient prophecies foretold
Christ's ministry and mediation, and the rise, progress,
and revolutions of the Church, not only under the figure
of persons and transactions, but in a literal manner, and
by the very sense of the words used in these predictions.
And he completed the extravagance of this chimerical
system by turning with wonderful art and dexterity, into
holy riddles and typical predictions, even those passages
of the Old Testament that seemed designed for no other
purpose than to celebrate the praises of the Deity, or to
convey some religious truth, or to inculcate some rule of
practice. In order to give an air of solidity and plausi-
bility to these odd notions, he first laid it down as a
fundamental rule of interpretation, " That the words and
phrases of Scripture are to be understood in every sense
of which they are susceptible ; or, in other words, that
they signify, in effect, every thing that they can possibly
signify ;" a rule this, which, when followed by a man who
•2l
114 COCCEITIS.
had more imagination than judgment, could not fail to
produce very extraordinary comments on the sacred wri-
tings. After having laid down this singular rule of inter-
pretation, he divided the whole history of the Church into
seven periods, conformable to the seven trumpets and seals
mentioned in the Revelations.
One of the great designs formed by Cocceius, was that
of separating theology from philosophy, and of confining
the Christian doctors, in their explications of the former,
to the words and phrases of the Holy Scriptures. Hence
it was, that, finding in the language of the sacred writers,
the Gospel dispensation represented under the image of a
covenant made between God and man, he looked upon
the use of this image as admirably adapted to exhibit a
complete and well connected system of religious truth.
But while he was labouring this point, and endeavouring
to accommodate the circumstances and characters of
human contracts to the dispensations of divine wisdom,
which they represent in such an inaccurate and imperfect
manner, he fell imprudently into some erroneous notions.
Such was his opinion concerning the covenant made be-
tween God and the Jewish nation by the ministry and the
mediation of Moses, " which he affirmed to be of the same
nature with the new covenant obtained by the mediation
of Jesus Christ." In consequence of this general prin-
ciple, he maintained, "That the Ten Commandments were
promulgated by Moses not as a rule of obedience, but as
a representation of the covenant of grace — that when the
Jews had provoked the Deity, by their various transgres-
sions, particularly by the worship of the golden calf, the
severe and servile yoke of the ceremonial law was added
to the decalogue, as a punishment inflicted on them by
the Supreme Being in his righteous displeasure — that
this yoke, which was painful in itself, became doubly so
on account of its typical signification ; since it admonished
the Israelites from day to day, of the imperfection and
uncertainty of tlieir state, filled them with anxiety, and
COCHL^US. 115
was a staniling and perpetual proof that they had merited
the displeasure of God, and could not expect, before the
coming of the Messiah, the entire remission of their trans-
gressi'jns and iniquities — that, indeed, good men, even
under the Mosaic dispensation, were immediately after
death made partakers of everlasting happim ss and glory;
but that they were, nevertheless, during the whole course of
their lives, far removed from that firm hope and assurance
of salvation, which rejoices the faithful under the dispensa-
tion of the Gospel — and that their anxiety flowed naturally
from this consideration, that their sins, though they
remained unpunished, were not pardoned, because Christ
had not, as yet, offered himself up a sacrifice to the Father
to make an entire atonement for them." These are the
principal lines that distinguish the Cocceian from other
systems of thfology ; it is attended, indeed, with other
peculiarities ; but we shall pass them over in silence, as of
little moment, and unworthy of noti'je. Tliese notions
were warmly opposed by the same i)ersons that declared
war against the Cartesian philosophy ; and the contest
was carried on for many years with various success. But,
in the issue, the doctrines of Cocceius, like those of Des
Cartes, stood their ground ; and neither the dexterity nor
vehemence of his adversaries could exclude his disciples
from the public seminaries of learning, or hinder them
from propagating, with surprising success and rapidity,
the tenets of their master in Germany and Switzerland.
Cocceius died in 1GG9. — Moreri. Musheim.
COCHL.EUS, JOHN.
John Cochl^us was born at Nuremburg in 1479, and
was the person who entered the lists most frequently by
writing or word of mouth against Luther and Lutherans.
With the exception of the fact, that from the year 1521 to
the year 1550, his fruitful pen produced annually more
than one tract in defence of Romanism, we know little of
116 COCHL^US.
his life. He was dean of Frankfort on the Maine when
he made his appearance at Worms, in 1521. He had no
summons to he present, hut was urged on by his zeal, and
was introduced to Aleander, the pope's nuncio, who was
not slow in discovering in him a devoted servant of Rome,
on whom he could calculate as on himself. Not being
able to be present at the audience which Luther was to
have with the Archbishop of Treves, Aleander appointed
Cochlseus to attend, enjoining him to hear what Luther
had to say, but to enter into no discussion with him. He
evidently doubted his discretion. Cochlaeus found it
difficult to obey, but though from time to time he had
thrown in a few words, he could not come forward as he
wished. He resolved, however, to compensate himself,
and had no sooner given an account of his mission to the
papal nuncio, than he presented himself at Luther's lodg-
ing. He accosted him as a friend, and expressed the
grief which he felt at the Emperor's resolution. After
dinner, the conversation grew animated. Cochlseus pressed
Luther to retract. He declined by a nod. Several nobles,
who were at table, had difficulty in restraining themselves.
They were indignant that the partisans of Rome should
wish not to convince the reformer by Scripture, but con-
strain him by force. Cochlasus, impatient under these
reproaches, says to Luther, " Very w^elb I offer to dispute
publicly wdth you, if you renounce the safe-conduct." All
that Luther demanded was a public debate. What ought
he to do ? To renounce the safe-conduct was to be his
ov^n destroyer ; to refuse the challenge of Cochlseus was to
appear doubtful of his cause. The guests regarded the
offer as a perfidious scheme of Aleander, whom the Dean
of Frankfort had just left. Vollrat of Watzdorff, one of
the number, freed Luther from the embarrassment of this
puzzling alternative. This baron, who was of a boiling
temperament, indignant at a snare which aimed at nothing
less than to give up Luther into the hands of the execu-
tioner, started up, seized the terrified priest, and pushed
him to the door. There would even have been bloodshed
COLE. 117
had not the other guests risen up from the table, and
interposed their mediation between the furious baron and
the trembling Cochlseus, who withdrew in confusion from
the hotel of the Knights of Rhodes.
The expression had no doubt escaped the dean in the
heat of discussion, and was not a premeditated scheme
between him and Aleander to make Luther fall into a
perfidious snare. Cochlaeus denies that it was, and we
have pleasure in giving credit to his testimony, though it
is true he had come to Luther's from a conference with
the nuncio.
His works are said to be of little worth ; the protestants
represent him to be ignorant as to his facts, and it is assert-
ed that he resorted to declamation rather than argument.
The mere titles of his writings would occupy many pages;
they may be found in the Bibliotheque de Boissard, part ii.
In 1539 he received from England a refutation by Richard
Morrison, D.D., of the tract he had published against the
marriage of Henry VIII. , to which he replied in a treatise
entitled, The Broom of John Cochlaeus for sweeping
down the Cobwebs of Morrison. He defends what he had
written against the divorce of Henry VIII., and boasts
that Erasmus had approved his work. His chief works are,
1. Historiae Hussitarum, Libri xii, folio. 2. De Actis et
Scriptis Lutherii, ab anno 1517, ad 1546, folio. 3. Spe-
culum antiquce devotionis circa Missam, 8vo. 4. De Vita
Theodorici Regis quondam Ostrogothorum, Stockholm,
1699, 4to. 5. Consilium Cardinalium anno 1538, 8vo,
6. De Emendanda Ecclesia, 1539, 8vo. He died in 155'2.
— MorerL Fraheri Theatrum. D'Auhigne.
COLE, HENET.
Heney Cole was born at Godshill, in the Isle of
Wight, and educated, we are sorry to say, at Winchester,
whence he was removed to New College, Oxford, of
which he became perpetual fellow in 1523. After study-
118 COLE.
ing the civil law, he travelled into Italy, and studied
at Padua. In 1540 he resigned his fellowship, and
settled in London, and became an advocate in the court
of arches, prebendary of Yatminster Secunda, in the
church of Sarum, and Archdeacon of Ely. In 1540 he
was made rector of Chelmsford, in Essex ; and in October
following was collated to the prebend of Holborn. In
1542 he was elected warden of New College; and in
] 545 made rector of Newton Longville, in Buckingham-
shire. Soon after, when King Edward VI. came to
the crown. Dr. Cole adhered to the party of the reformers,
but altering his mind, he resigned his preferments.
After Queen Mary's accession he became again a zealous
Roman Catholic, and in 1554 was made provost of Eton
College, in the room of Sir Thomas Smith. He was also
one of the disputants against Archbishop Cranmer, who
was sent down by the lower house of convocation to
Oxford; and when the death of Cranmer was resolved
upon. Cole received instructions privately from the Queen
to preach at his burning. On arriving at Oxford, Cole
visited the Archbishop, but did not mention what awaited
him on the morrow. He asked, " Have you continued in
the Catholic faith, wherein I left you?" Cranmer an-
swered ; " By God's grace, I shall be daily more confirmed
in the Catholic faith ;" an evasive reply, such, indeed, as
might have been expected from the Archbishop under his
existing circumstances, but certainly not sufficiently ex-
plicit for the satisfaction of his interrogator. On the
following morning, it being Saturday, the 21st of March,
Cole visited the prisoner again, and enquired of him
whether he had any money ? A negative answer being
returned, fifteen crowns were given to him. The provost
also exhorted him to constancy in the faith, and he, pro-
bably, acquainted him that a public profession of his
opinions was about to be required from his lips. When,
the next day the unhappy Archbishop was brought to
St. Mary's church. Cole began his sermon, he assigned
several reasons why, in the present instance, a heretic
COLE. 119
■who had repented, should, notwithstanding, expiate his
offence at the stake. "The prisoner, he said, was the chief
cause of recent alterations in rehgion ; he had irregularly
divorced King Henry from Queen Catharine, not however
of malice undoubtedly, but under the advice of various
learned men ; he had written, disputed, and, in fine,
exerted himself in every way to favour heresy, and, " had
continued in it even to the last hour." No heretic, the
preacher asserted, having so long maintained his 'errors,
had ever been pardoned in England, unless in the time of
the schism. It was besides, the congregation was told,
necessary to use severity in this case, for the sake of
example; and it was added, "there are other reasons
which have moved the Queen and council to order the
execution of the individual present, but which are not
meet and convenient for every man's understanding."
After some practical reflections addressed to the hearers,
and bearing upon the case before them, the preacher
exhorted Cranmer himself. He pressed upon his atten-
tion several texts of Scripture suitable for inspiring him
with patience under his approaching death ; he cited the
case of the penitent thief in the Gospel, as an encourage-
ment to him in believing that he should that day be with
Christ in Paradise : he reminded him that the three
faithful Jews, consigned to the fiery furnace by Nebuchad-
nezzar, suffered not by the fury of the flames ; he then
made a shew of strengthening this consolation by relating,
from legendary lore, the patience of St. Andrew upon the
cross, and of St. Laurence upon the gridiron. Finally,
he glorified God in his conversion, assuring the people
that great pains had long been taken ineffectually for that
purpose, and that there appeared no hopes of success,
until at last a merciful Diety reclaimed the sinner. Many
flattering observations were then applied to Cranmer, the
severity with which his acts had been described in a former
portion of the sermon was greatly softened down, and he
was assured that, after his death, masses and dirges should
be chanted for the repose of his soul. An address was
UO COLE.
even directly made to the priests present, charging them
thus to assist, during its detention in purgatory, the spirit
now about to leave the world.
The sermon being concluded, Cole intreated his hearers
to pray for the prisoner. Immediately the whole congre-
gation obeyed the call, and never did a large assembly
exhibit more evident marks of earnest devotion. Some
individuals. ^probably, supplicated the Father of mercies
from a generous compassion for the sufferer before them ;
but party-feelings lent fervency to the prayers of the con-
gregation generally. The Romanist and Reformer equally
claimed the victim as his own ; both, accordingly, felt
deeply interested in the mitigation of his sufferings, and
each of them clung to the hope that he would leave the
world with a full avowal of adherence to his own peculiar
creed.
The reader is referred to the liife of Cranmer for the
sequel of this tragedy. Dr. Cole was prominent in all the
proceedings of the Romanists in those dreadful times, and
when he acted as one of the visitors of the University of
Cambridge, Whitgift seems to have regarded his appoint-
ment with fear. He became dean of St. Paul's in the
December of 1556, and was made, August 8, 1557, vicar-
general of the spiritualities under Cardinal Pole, Arch-
bishop of Canterbury ; and the first of October following,
official of the arches, and dean of the peculiars ; and in
November ensuing, judge of the court of audience, which
office the following year he resigned. In 1558 he was
appointed one of the overseers of that cardinal's will. In
the first year of Queen Elizabeth's reign he was one of
the eight divines of the Church of England appointed to
dispute publicly on the Romanizing side against eight
others appointed to maintain the cause of the Reformation.
Of this disputation Strype informs us that the Queen
ordered it should be m.anaged in writing on both parties,
for avoiding of much altercation in words and she ordered
likewise, that the papists' bishops should first declare their
minds, with their reasons, in writing; and then the others,
COLE. 121
if they had any thing to say to the contrary, should the
same day declare their opinions. And so each of them
should deliver their writings to the other, to be considered
what were to be disproved therein ; and the same to declare
in writing at some other convenient day.
All this was fully agreed upon. And hereupon divers
of the nobility and estates of the realm, understanding
that such a meeting should be, made earnest means to
her majesty, that the bishops and divines might put their
assertions into English, and read them in that tongue,
for their better satisfaction and understanding, and for
enabling their own judgments to treat and conclude of
such laws as might depend thereupon. And so both
parties met at Westminster Abbey : the lords and others of
the privy council were present, and a great part of the
nobility and of the commons. But while all were in ex-
pectation to hear these learned men and their arguments,
the Bishop of Winchester, Dr. White, said, they were mis-
taken, that their assertions and reasons should be written,
and so only recited out of a book : adding, that their book
was not then ready written ; but that they were ready to
argue and dispute : and therefore that they would only at
that time repeat in speech what they had to say to the
first proposition. This, with some words, was passed off:
and then the Bishop of Winchester and his colleagues
appointed Dr. Cole, dean of St. Paul's, to be the utterer of
their minds : who, partly by speech, and partly by reading
authorities written, and at certain times being informed
by the colleagues what to say, made a declaration of their
meanings, and their reasons to their first proposition.
Which being ended, they were asked by the privy
council if any of them had any more to say. They said,
No. Then the other part was licensed to shew their
minds, which they did according to the first order; exhi-
biting all that they meant to propound in a book written :
which, after a prayer and invocation made to Almighty
God, and a protestation to stand to the doctrine of the
VOL. IV. M
1-22 COLE.
catholic Church built upon Scripture, was distinctly read
by Dr. Horn (who was the penner of the same) upon the
first proposition. And so the assembly was quietly dis-
missed. This was on Friday, the last day of March. The
question then disputed was, " That it was against the
word of God, and the custom of the primitive Church, to
use a tongue unknown to the people in common prayer
and administration of Sacraments."
When Monday, the second day of conference, came,
and all the grave assembly were set. White, Bishop of
Winchester, and the rest of that side, refused to proceed
on the second question, but would by all means insist
still upon the first, argued the last day ; and, pretending
they had more to say of it, were resolved to read upon
that argument only : urging much that they and their
cause should suffer prejudice if they should not treat of
the first. And Watson, Bishop of Lincoln, striving to
have his turn of speaking, hotly said, that they were not
used indifferently, that they might not be allowed to de-
clare in writing what they had to say of the first question;
and added, that what Dr. Cole spake in the last assembly
was extempore, and of himself, and with no fore-studied
talk, and that it was not prepared to strengthen their
cause. These sayings made the nobility and others the
auditors frown, knowing that Cole spake out of a paper
which he held in his hand, and read in the same : and
that according to the instructions of the bishops, who
pointed unto several places in his paper with their fin-
gers for his direction. Watson also complained that their
adversaries had longer warning than they : and that they
themselves had notice of it but two days before, and were
fain to sit up the whole last night. But Bacon, the Lord
Keeper, told them that at the last conference, when Cole
had done, he asked them, the Bishops, whether what he
had spoken was what they would have him say, and they
granted it ; and whether he should say any more in the
matter, and they answered, No. But for their satisfaction
COLE. 123
the Lord Keeper added, that they should at present,
according to the order agreed upon, discourse upon the
second question ; and at another meeting, when the day
came for them both to confirm their first question, they
should have liberty to read what they had further to say
upon the first. To which all the council there present
willingly condescended : but this also the Bishops would
not be contented with. At last Hethe, Archbishop of
York, told them they were to blame, for that there was a
plain decreed order for them to treat at this time of the
second question, and bade them leave their contention.
Then the Bishops started another matter of quarrel, and
said, it was contrary to the order in disputations that they
should begin ; for that their side had the negative said
the Bishop of Chester : and therefore they that were on
the afiirmative should begin : that they were the defending
party : and that it was the school manner, and likewise
the manner in Westminster Hall, that the plaintiff should
speak first, and then the accused party answer. To which
the keeper told them, they began willingly on the first
question ; and the protestants told them, that they had
the negative then. Horn wondered that they should so
much stand upon it, who should begin. Then the
Bishops charged the protestants to have been the pro-
pounders of the questions. But the keeper told them
that the questions were of neither of their propounding,
but offered from the council indifferently to them both.
Then Bayne, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, minding
to run from the matter, began to question with the pro-
testants, what church they were of ? saying that they
must needs try that first : for there were many churches
in Germany ; and he demanded of Horn, which of those
churches he was of? who prudently answered, that he was
of Christ's catholic Church. The keeper told them they
ought not to run into voluntary talk of their own invent-
ing. The Bishop of Lichfield said that they, on their
part, had no doubt, but assuredly stood in the truth.
But those other men pretended to be doubtful. There-
VU COLE.
fore they should first bring what they had to impugn
them, the Bishops, withal. And the Bishop of Chester
told the Lords plainly, if themselves began first, and the
others spake after, then they speaking last should have
the advantage to come off with applause of the people,
and the verity on their side not be so well marked. And
therein indeed he spake out the true cause of all this
jangling. And hereupon Winchester in short said he
was resolved, except they began, he would say nothing.
When the Lord Keeper could not persuade them he spoke
of departing. And Winchester, as though this was the
issue he desired, presently cried. Contented, and offered to
go. But the keeper first asked them man by man, to
know their resolution, and they all, save one, Fecknam,
Abbot of Westminster, utterly denied to read, without the
other party began ; and some so very disorderly and
irreverently as had not been seen in so honourable an
assembly of the two estates of the realm, nobility and com-
mons then assembled, besides the presence of the Queen's
council.
And so, without any more dispute, all was dismissed.
But the Lord Keeper at parting said these words to them ;
" For that ye would not that we should hear you, perhaps
you may shortly hear of us." And so they did; for, for
this contempt, the Bishops of Winchester and Lincoln
were committed to the Tower of London ; and the rest,
including Cole, and with the exception of the Abbot of
Westminster, were bound to make their personal appear-
ance before the council, and not to depart the cities of
London and Westminster till their order.
They were thus bound over until the Lords of the
Council assessed them for the contempt committed against
the Queen's majesty, as the obligation ran. Dr. Cole was
fined in 1000 marks, though only 500 were levied upon
him. It seems that he might have received the same
gentle treatment which the otlier deprived dignitaries met
with, had he not been of a restless and controversial tern-
per, being, as Strype says, " more earnest than wise."
COLE. U6
He remained at liberty till May, 1560, when with some
others he was sent to the Tower. How long he remained
there we do not know, but in March, 1560, after the
memorable challenge of Bishop Jewell, "that if any one of
the leading articles of Romanism which he then rehearsed
could be proved on the popish side by any sufficient
authority, either of the Scripture, or of the old doctors, or
of the ancient councils, or by any one allowed example of
the primitive Church, and as they had borne the people
in hand they could prove them by, he would be contented
to yield to them, and to subscribe."
He wrote a letter to him, offering to dispute with him
by letter. Some letters passed between him and Jewell,
in which, as Strype says, "it is evident how Cole shuffled
and shifted off the main business, and nibbled at other
bye matters. " But at length he privately, among his
own party, scattered several copies of an answer, as he
called it by way of letter to Jewell, to which Jewell printed
a reply.
In the month of June the same year he was summoned
before the Queen's visitors at Lambeth. They demanded
of him, whether that letter, that went abroad under his
name, in answer to Jewell elect of Sarum, was his, and
whether he would acknowledge it so, or no : and the
rather, because it had gone abroad in all places, even to
the Bishops own diocese, to discredit him in corners at
his first coming. Cole answered, that it was his own :
but that it was much abridged, and that the original was
twice as much. Hereupon the Bishop blamed him after-
wards, in his letter to him, " that he would so unad-
visedly bestow his writings to others that had curtailed
them ; and because many honourable and w^orshipful
persons would gladly see what both said in print." The
Bishop therefore had desired him, for the bettering of
his own cause, to send hiin his own copy fully and
largely, as he said he gave it out at the first ; that he
might have no cause to think himself injured, if he an-
m2
126 COLET.
swered one parcel of his letter, and not the whole. This
the Bishop wrote to him from Shirborn, July 22, 1560.
Cole never sent his copy, nor made answer one way or
other ; and so the Bishop was fain to answer that paper
that went about.
The visitors at Lambeth, mentioned above, called there
before them, besides Cole, many other popish divines, to
swear to the supremacy : who refusing it, they took of them
bonds for their good behaviour.
Cole died in London, 1579. His writings were, 1. Dis-
putation with Archbishop Cranmer and Bishoj) Pddley at
Oxford, in 1554. 2. Funeral Sermon at the Burning of
Dr. Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. Both
these are in Fox's Acts and Monuments. 3. Letters to
John Jewell, Bishop of Salisbury, upon occasion of a
sermon that the said Bishop preached before the Queen's
majesty and her honourable council, anno 1560, London,
i560, 8vo; printed afterwards among Bishop Jewell's
works. 4. Letters to Bishop Jewell, upon occasion of a
sermon of his preached at St. Paul's Cross on the second
Sunday before Easter, in 1650. 5. An Answer to the
first Proposition of the Protestants, at the Disputation
before the Lords at Westminster. — Strype. Burnet. Fox.
Dod.
COLET, JOHN.
John Colet was born in the parish of St. Antholin,
London, in the year 1466, and was the eldest son of
Sir Henry Colet, knt. twice Lord Mayor, who had, besides
him, one and twenty children. In the year 1483, he was
sent to Magdalene College, in Oxford, where he spent
seven years in the study of logic and philosophy, and took
his degrees in arts. He was perfectly acquainted with
Cicero's works, and no stranger to Plato and Plotinus,
whom he read together, to the end that they might illus-
trate each other's meaning. He studied also Dionysius
COLET. 12T
and Origen. He was forced however to read these authors
only in their Latin translations ; for at school he had no
opportunity of learning the Greek tongue, nor at the
university, when he went thither ; that language being
then not only not taught, but thought unnecessary and
even discouraged, in that seat of learning. Hence the
proverb, Cave a Grsecis, ne fias Hasreticus, that is, " Be-
ware of Greek, lest you become an heretic;" and it is well
known, that when Linacer, Grocin, and others, afterwards
professed to teach the Greek language in Oxford, they
were opposed by a set of men who called themselves Tro-
jans. Colet was also skilled extremely well in mathe-
matics ; so that having thus laid a good foundation of
learning at home, he went and travelled abroad, for farther
improvement ; first to France, and then to Italy ; and
seems to have continued in those two countries from the
year 1403 to 1497. But before his departure, and indeed
when he vras but two years standing in the university, he
was instituted to the rectory of Denington, in Suffolk, to
which he was presented by a relation of his mother, and
which he held to the day of his death.
Being arrived at Paris, he soon became acquainted with
the learned there, with the celebrated Budaeus in parti-
cular ; and was afterwards recommended to Erasmus. In
Italy, he contracted a friendship with several eminent
persons, especially with his ov.n countrymen Grocin,
Linacer, Lilly, and Latimer; who were learning the
Greek tongue, then but little known in England, under
those great masters Demetrius, Angelus Politianus, Her-
molus Barborus, and Pomponius Sabinus. He took this
opportunity of improving himself in this language ;
and having devoted himself to divinity, he read, while
abroad, the best of the ancient fathers, particularly
Origen, Cyprian, Ambrose, and Jerome. He looked some-
times also into Scotus and Aquinas, studied the civil and
canon law, made himself acquainted with the history and
constitution of Church and State ; and for the sake of
giving a polish to all this, did not neglect to read the
128 COLET.
English poets, and other authors of the belles lettres.
During his absence trom England he was made a pre-
bendary in the church of York, and installed by proxy
upon the 5th of March, 1493 — 4. Upon his return in
the year 1496, or 1497, he was ordained deacon in
December, and priest in July following. He had, indeed,
before he entered into orders, great temptations from his
natural disposition, to lay aside study, and give himself
up to gaiety ; for he was rather luxuriously inclined ;
but he curbed his passions, and after staying a few
months with his father and mother at London he retired
to Oxford.
Here he read public lectures on St. Paul's Epistles
without stipend or reward : which being a new thing, drew
a vast crowd of hearers, who admired him gi-eatly. And
here began his memorable friendship with Erasmus, who
came to Oxford about the end of the year 1497, which
remained unshaken and inviolable to the day of their
deaths. He continued these lectures through the years
1497, 1498, 1499; and, in the year 1501, was admitted
to proceed in divinity, or to the reading of the sen-
tences. In the year 1504 he commenced doctor in
divinity : and in May, 1505, was instituted to a prebend
in St. Paul's, London The same year and month he was
made dean of that church, without the least application of
his own.
The following account of him in his private character
is given by Erasmus : —
"The dean's table," says he, " which, under the name
of hospitality, had before served too much to pomp and
luxury, he contracted to a more frugal and temperate way
of entertaining. And it having been his custom for many
years to eat but one meal, that of dinner, he had always
the evening to himself. When he dined privately with
his own family he had always some strangers for his
guests ; but the fewer, because his provision was frugal ;
which yet was neat and genteel. The sittings were short ;
and the discourses such as pleased only the learned and
COLET. 129
the good. As soon as grace before meat was said, some
boy with a good voice read distinctly a chapter out of one
of St. Paul's Epistles, or out of the Proverbs of Solomon.
When he had done reading, the dean would pitch upon
some particular part of it, and thence frame a subject
matter of discourse ; asking either the learned, or such as
were otherwise of good understanding, what was the
meaning of this or that expression : and he would so adapt
and temper his discourse, that though it was grave and
serious, yet it never tired, or gave any distaste. Again,
toward the end of dinner, when the company was rather
satisfied than satiated, he would throw in another subject
of discourse : and thus he dismissed his guests with a
double repast, refreshed in their minds as well as bodies ;
so that they always went away better than they came, and
were not oppressed with what they had eat and drunk.
He was mightily delighted with the conversation of his
friends ; which he would some times protract till very late
in the evening : but all his discourse was either of learn-
ing or religion. If he could not get an agreeable com-
panion, (for it was not every body he did like,) one of his
servants read some part of the Holy Scriptures to him.
In his journeys he would sometimes make me (says
Erasmus) his companion ; and he was as easy and plea-
sant as any man living : yet he always carried a book
with him ; and all his discourse was seasoned with reli-
gion. He was so impatient of whatsoever was foul and
sordid, that he could not bear with any indecent or im-
I)roper way of speaking. He loved to be neat and clean
in his goods, furniture, entertainment, apparel, and books,
and whatever belonged to him ; and yet he despised all
state and magniiicence. His habit was only black; though
it was then common for the higher clergy to be clad in
purple. His upper garment was always of woollen cloth,
and plain ; which, if the weather was cold, and required it,
he lined with fur. Whatever came in by his ecclesiastical
preferments he delivered to his stewai'd, to be laid out on
family occasions or hospitality : and all that arose from
130 COLET.
his own proper estate, (which was very large,) he gave away
for pious and charitable uses."
Erasmus also informs us of his public character, that
*' this excellent man, as if he had been called to the
labours, not to the dignity of his office, restored the
decayed discipline of his cathedral church, and brought in
what was a new practice there, preaching himself upon
Sundays and all solemn festivals. In which course of
preaching, he did not take a desultory text out of the Gos-
pel or Epistle for the day ; but he chose a fixed and larger
subject, which he prosecuted in several successive dis-
courses, till he had gone through the whole ; as suppose
the Gospel of St. Matthew, the Creed, or the Lord's Prayer.
And he had there always a full auditory ; and amongst
others, the chief magistrates of the city."
The frequent preaching of Dean Colet, in his own cathe-
dral, set a good example to some other deans, to do the
same good office in their respective churches : as particu-
larly at Lichfield, Dr. Collingwood introduced the pious
practice of preaching every Sunday : being the first and
only preacher of all the deans there.
We hear much in these days of the reverence shewn by
the people before the Reformation, but the following quota-
tion from an English book, printed at the latter end of
Henry Vllth's reign will shew how profane and dissolute
were the choir of St. Pauls at that period, and how much
they needed reformation.
" Certeyne of vycars of Poules dysposed to be merye on
a Sondaye at hye masse tyme, sent another madde felowe
of theyr acquayntance unto a folyshe dronken preest upon
the toppe of the stayres by the chauncell dore, and spake
to hym, and sayd thus, Syr, my maistre hath sent you a
bottell to putt your drynke in, because ye can kepe none
in your brayne. Thys preest beynge therewith very angrye,
all sodenly toke the bottell, and with his fote flange it
down into the bodye of the churche upon the gentylmennes
heddes."
Dean Colet was much disgusted with the state of mon-
COLET. 131
asteiies and the immoralities of the monks. He saw also
the monstrous evils which result from the constrained
celibacy of the clergy. He used to say he never found
better or purer manners than among married men, whose
natural affection for their wives and care of their own
children and go^rnment of their own families, kept them
within the bounds of moderation and chastity. Erasmus
often referred to the wisdom of Dean Colet, when at a
later period of life he founded his school, in preferring a
married man for the master, and married men for the
trustees and guardians of it. The constrained celibacy of
the clergy had not only caused crimes and scandals of the
most gross nature, but had actually lowered the tone of
morals in religious men. Sir Thomas More (Apologia
pro Erasmo) narrates that he heard a divine of his ac-
quaintance maintain plus eum peccare qui unam domi
concubinam quam qui decem foras meretrices haberet.
And although Erasmus bears testimony to the purity of
Colet's life, a fact which he speaks of as an exception to
the general rule of the clergy ; yet he says he had a chari-
table opinion of those priests and monks who were guilty
of incontinence. " Not that he did not heartily abhor the
sin, but because he found such men far less mischievous
than others (if compared) who were haughty, envious,
backbiters, hypocrites, vain, unlearned, wholly given to
the getting of money and honour. Yet these had a
mighty opinion of themselves ; whereas others, by acknow-
ledging their infirmity, were made more humble and
modest. He said, that to be covetous and proud was
more abominable in a priest than to have an hundred
concubines : not that he thought incontinence to be a light
sin, but covetousness and pride to be at a greater distance
from true piety. And he was not more averse to any sort
of men, than such bishops who were wolves instead of
shepherds ; and commended themselves by external ser-
vice of God, ceremonies, benedictions and indulgences to
the people, while with all their hearts they served the
world, that is, glory and gain. He was not much dis-
i:3'2 COLET;
pleased with them who would not have images (either
painted or carved, gold or silver) worshipped in churches ;
nor with them, who doubted whether a notorious wicked
priest could consecrate the Sacrament. Hereby not fa-
vouriDg their error, but expressing his indignation against
such clergymen, who by an open bad life gave occasion to
this suspicion."
His conduct exposed him to persecution from the
Bishop of London, Dr. Fitzjames, who accused him to
Archbishop Warham as a dangerous man, preferring at
the same time some articles against him. But Warham,
knowing the worth aijd integrity of Colet, dismissed him,
without giviug him the trouble of putting in any formal
answer. The Bishop, however, endeavoured afterwards to
stir up the King and the court against him.
Whatever his persecutions were, they did not prevent
his making a noble stand against the existing abuses of
the Church, and from calling for a reformation of the
establishment, as may be seen from his sermon before the
convocation at St. Paul's, in 1511. In that sermon,
referring to the sins of the world, of which the pride of
life is one, he says, " How much greediness and appetite
of honour and dignity is seen now-a-days in clergymen ?
How run they (yea almost out of breath) from one benefice
to another, from the less to the greater, from the lower to
the higher? Who seeth not this? And who seeing,
sorroweth not? And most of those who are in these
dignities carry their heads so high, and are so stately,
that they seem not to be JDut in the humble bishopric of
Christ, but rather in the high lordship and power of the
world ; not knowing, or not minding, what Christ the
master of all meekness said unto His disciples (whom He
called to be bishops and priests :) The princes of the
Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and those that be
in authority have power; but do ye not so. Whosoever will
be chief amongst you (highest in dignity) let him be your
servant. The Son of Man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister. Mat. xx. 25, &c. By which words
COLET. 133
our Saviour doth plainly teach, that a prelacy in the
church is nothing else but a ministration, that an high
dignity in an ecclesiastical person ought to be nothing but
a meek service.
" The second secular evil is carnal concupiscence. And
hath not this vice grown and increased in the Church so
far, that in this most busy age, the far greater number
of priests mind nothing but what doth delight and please
their senses ? They give themselves to feasts and ban-
queting, spend their time in vain babbling, are addicted
to hunting and hawking ; and in a word, drowned in the
delights of this world, diligent only in progging for those
lusts they set by. Against which sort of men St. Jude
exclaims in his epistle, saying, Wo unto them that have
gone the way of Cain ; they are foul and beastly,. feasting
in their meats, without fear feeding themselves, clouds of
the wild sea, foaming out their own shame ; unto whom
the storm of darkness is reserved for everlasting.
" Covetousness is the third secular evil, which St. John
calls the lust of the eyes, and St. Paul, idolatry. This
abominable pestilence hath so entered into the minds of
almost all priests, hath so blinded the eyes of their under-
standing, that we see nothing but that which seems to
bring unto us some gain. What other thing seek we
now-a-days in the church, except fat benefices and high
promotions ? And it were well if we minded the duty of
those when we have them ; but he that hath many great
benefices, minds not the office of one small one. And in
these high promotions, what other thing do we pass upon,
but only our tithes and rents ? We care not how vast
our charge of souls be, how many or how great benefices
we take, so they be of large value."
In suggesting modes of reformation, he recommends
especially the putting in force of existing canons : "Above
all things," he says, "let the canons be rehearsed that
appertain to you my reverend fathers and lord bishops,
laws concerning your just and canonical election in the
chapters of your churches, calling upon the Holy Ghost :
VOL IV. N
134 COLET.
for because those canons are not obeyed now-a-days (but
prelates are chosen oftentimes more by the favour of
men, than by the grace of God) hence truly it comes to
pass, that we have not seldom bishops who have little
spirituality in them, men rather worldly than heavenly,
favouring more of the spirit of this world than the spirit
of Christ.
" Let the canons be rehearsed of the residence of bishops
in their dioceses, which command that they look diligently
to the health of souls, that they sow the word of God, that
they shew themselves in their churches, at least on great
holidays ; that they officiate in their own persons, and
do sacrifice for their people ; that they hear the causes and
matters of poor men ; that they sustain fatherless children
and widows, and exercise themselves in works of virtue.
" Let the canons be rehearsed concerning the right be-
stowing of the patrimony of Christ; the canons which
command that the goods of the church be spent not in
costly building, not in sumptuous apparel and pomps, not
in feasting and banqueting, not in excess and wantonness,
not in enriching of kinsfolk, not in keeping of hounds ;
but in things profitable and necessary for the Church."
The persecutions he endured made him weary of the
world, and he began to think of disposing of his effects,
and of retiring. Having, therefore, a large estate, without
any near relations, he resolved, in the midst of life and
health, to consecrate all his property to some permanent
benefaction. And this he performed by founding St. Pauls
School, in London, of which he appointed William Lilly
first master, in 1512. He ordained that there should be
in this school a high master, a surmaster, and a chaplain,
who should teach gratis 153 children, divided into eight
classes ; and he endowed it with lands and houses, amount-
ing then to £122. 4s. 7^d. per annum, of which endow-
ment he made the Company of Mercers trustees.
" The whole fabric," says Erasmus, "he divided into
four parts : whereof one fat the entrance) is as it were for
the catechumeni, (and yet none is admitted till he can
COLET. 135
read and write) the second for such as are under the usher.
The third part is for those whom the upper master teach-
eth. These two ends are divided by a curtain, which is
drawn to and fro when they please. Above the master's
chair stands the holy child Jesus, curiously engraven, in
the posture of one reading a lecture, with this motto,
Hear Him ; which words I advised him to set up. And
all the young fry, when they come in and go out of school
(besides their appointed prayers) salute Christ with an
hymn. At the upper end is a chapel, in which divine
service may be said. The whole building hath no corners
nor lurking-holes for dunces, having neither chamber nor
dining-room in it. Every boy has his proper seat dis-
tinguished by spaces of wood, and the forms have thi-ee
ascents. Every class containeth sixteen boys, (the two
lowest much more,) and the best scholar of each sits in
a seat somewhat more eminent than the rest, with the
word CAPITANEUS engraven in golden letters over
his head.
" Our quick-sighted Dr. Colet saw very well, that the
main hope and pillar of a commonwealth consists in fur-
nishing youth with good literature, and thcjrefore did ho
bestow so much care and cost on this school. Though it
stood him in an infinite sum of money to build and endow
it, yet he would accept of no co-partner. One left indeed
a legacy of £100 sterling to the structure of it; but Colet
thinking that if he took it, some lay-people would chal-
lenge to themselves I know not what authority over the
school, did by the permission of his Bishop bestow it
upon holy vestments for the choir. Yet though he would
sufifer no lay-men to have a finger in the building, he
enti-usted no clergyman (not so much as the Bishop,
Dean, and Chapter of St. Paul) nor any of the nobility,
with the oversight of the revenues ; but some married
citizens of honest report. When he was asked why he
would do so, he answered, that there was nothing certain
in human affairs ; but he found least corruption in such
men.
186 COLET.
As all men highly commended him for his school, so many
wondered why he would build a stately house for himself
within the bounds of the Carthusian monastery, which is
not far from the palace at Pdchmond : but he told them,
that he provided that seat for himself in his old age, when
he should be unfit for labours, or broken with diseases,
and so constrained to retire from the society of men.
There he intended to philosophize with two or three
eminent friends, among which he was wont, says Erasmus,
to reckon me ; but death prevented him. For being a few
years before his decease, visited thrice with the sweating
sickness, (a disease which seized no countrymen but
English] though he recovered, yet he thereupon grew
consumptive, and so died. One physician thought that
the dropsy killed him ; but when he was dissected, they
saw nothing extraordinary, only the capillary vessels of
his liver were beset with pustules. He was buried in the
south side of the choir, of his own cathedral, in a low
sepulchre, which he to that end had chosen for himself
some years before, with this inscription, John Colet.
Besides his dignities and preferments already men-
tioned, he was rector of the fraternity or guild of Jesus in
St. Paul's cathedral, for which he procured new statutes
and was chaplain and preacher in ordinary to Henry VIII. ;
and, if Erasmus be correct, one of the privy-council.
He wrote, — 1. Oratio habita a Doctore Johanne Colet,
Decano Sancti Pauli, ad Clerum in Convocatioue, anno
1511. 2. Eudimenta Grammatices a Joanne Coleto,
Decano Ecclesias Sancti Pauli Londin. in Usum Scholae
ab ipso Institutes, commonly called Paul's Accidence,
1539, 8vo. 3. The construction of the Eight Parts of
Speech, entitled Absolutissimus de Octo Orationis Partium
Constructione Libellus ; which, with some alterations,
and great additions, makes up the syntax in Lilly's Gram-
mar, Antwerp, 1530, 8vo. 4. Daily Devotions or the
Christian's Morning and Evening Sacrifice. 5. Monition
to a godly Life, 1534, 1563, &c. 6. Epistolae ad Eras-
mum — Erasmus. Knight.
COLLIER. 137
COLLIEE, JEREMY.
Jeremy Collier was born at Stow Qui, in Cambridge-
shire, in 1650. He was educated under his father who
was master of the free-school at Ipswich, whence, in 1GG9,
he was sent to Cambridge, and admitted a poor scholar
of Caius College. In 1676 he was ordained deacon by
Gunning, Bishop of Ely; and priest the year after, by
Compton, Bishop of London. He officiated for some time
at the Countess-dowager of Dorset's, at Knowle, in Kent,
whence, in 1679, he removed to the rectory of Ampton,
near St. Edmunds Bury, in Suffolk ; but resigned it, and
came to London in 1685, and was appointed lecturer of
Gray's-Inn, but when the Revolution took place, he not
only refused to take the oaths to the new government, but
engaged as a zealous and active partisan, in support of the
pretensions of the dethroned Monarch, and in defence of
the conduct of his non-juring brethren. The first treatise
he produced was. The Desertion discussed, in a Letter to
a Country Gentleman, 1688, designed to counteract the
influence of a pamphlet of Dr. Gilbert Burnet, the object
of which was to show, that James 11. by his desertion of
his people, particularly after the series of injustice aud
violence by which his reign had been distinguished, ought
no longer to be considered or treated with as King. For
this Collier was confined for some months in Newgate ;
whence he was afterwards liberated without being brought
to a trial. He then published a Translation of the Ninth,
Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Books of Sleidan s Commen-
taries, 4to, 1689; Vindiciee Juris Regii, or remarks upon
a Paper entitled An Enquiry into the Measures of Sub-
mission to the Supreme Authority, in 4to, in the same
year; Animadversions upon the modem Explanation of
2 Henry VII. cap. 1. or a King de facto, in the same
year ; A Caution against Inconsistency, or the Connexion
between Praying and Swearing, in relation to the Civil
Powers, 4to, 1690; A Dialogue concerning the Times,
VOL. IV. 0
138 COLLIER.
between Philobelgus and Sempronius, in the same year ;
a petition, on a half sheet, To the Right Honourable the
Lords, and to the Gentlemen convened at Westminster,
in the same year, for an Enquiry into the birth of the
Prince of Wales ; Dr. Sherlock's Case of Allegiance con-
sidered, with some Remarks upon his Vindication, in
1691 ; and a Brief Essay concerning the Independency
of Church Power, in 1692. By these publications, and
by a suspicion that a journey undertaken by the writer to
the coast of Kent, in 169*2, was with the design of main-
taining a correspondence with the exiled King, the
jealousy of the government w^as once more alarmed, and
he was brought in the custody of messengers to London,
where, after an examination before the Earl of Notting-
ham, he was committed prisioner to the Gate-house, but
was in a short time admitted to bail.
Collier's conscience, however, reproached him, and he
feared lest remaining in bail he should acknowledge the
jurisdiction of the court in which the bail was taken, and
consequently of the power from whence the authority of
the court was derived, and therefore surrendered in dis-
charge of his bail before Chief Justice Holt, and was com-
mitted to the King's Bench prison. He was released again
at the iatercession of friends, in a very few days ; but still
attempted to support his principles and justify his con-
duct by the following pieces, of which, it is said, there
were only five copies printed : " The case of giving bail
to a pretended authority examined, dated from the King's
Bench, Nov. 23, 1692," with a preface, dated Dec. 1692;
and, " a Letter to Sir John Holt," dated Nov. 30, 1692 ;
and also, " A Reply to some Remarks upon the case of
giving bail, &c., dated April, 1693." He wrote soon after
this, " A Persuasive to consideration, tendered to the
RoyaUsts, particularly those of the Church of England,"
1693, 4to. It was afterwards reprinted in 8vo, together
with his vindication of it, against a piece entitled " The
Layman's Apology." He wrote also, " Remarks upon the
COLLIER. 139
London Gazette, relating to the Streight's Fleet, and the
Battle of Landen in Flanders," 1693, 4to.
We come now to an incident in the life of Collier by
which he was involved in much trouble, we allude to his
absolution of Sir John Friend and Sir William Perkins,
who were sentenced to death in 1096, for being implicated
in a plot against the life of William III. The account of
this proceeding is thus given by Collier himself. After
his trial, Sir William Perkins, whom he had not seen for
four or five years, sent for Collier, who visited him in
Newgate. After two days he was not permitted to see the
prisoner alone : and at length he was refused altogether,
so that he did not see him from Wednesday, April 1,
until Friday, at the place of execution. Sir William had
spoken freely to Collier on the state of his mind, and
desired that the absolution of the Church might be pro-
nounced the last day. On Friday Collier was refused
admittance to the prison : and therefore he went to the
place of execution and gave the absolution there, since he
was not allowed to give it elsewhere, using the Form in
The Office for The Visitation of the Sick.
So great an impression was made upon the public mind
by the circumstance, that the two Archbishops and ten
Bishops published a declaration against the practice :
entitled : " A Declaration of the Sense of the Archbishops
and Bishops now in and about London upon the occasion
of their attendance in parliament, concerning the irregular
and scandalous proceedings of certain clergymen, at the
execution of Sir John Friend and Sir William Perkins."
The document is somewhat curious, as expressive of the
opinions of the Bishops respecting the schism, which had
now occurred, A paper, or papers, had been delivered by
the criminals to the sheriffs, which were afterwards printed
and circulated, and in which Sir John Friend speaks of
the Church of the nonjurors as the Church of England.
The Bishops say, that they felt themselves obliged to
express their sense of the conduct of the three clergymen.
Alluding to Sir John Friend s expression, they remark of
140 COLLIER.
the Church of England, " that venerable name is, by the
author of that paper, appropriated to that part of our
Church which hath separated itself from the body ; and
more particularly to a faction of them, who are so furiously
bent upon the restoring of the late King, that they seem
not to regard by what means it is to be effected." His
words are as follows :
" I profess myself, and I thank God I am so, a member
of the Church of England, though, God knows, a most
unworthy and unprofitable part of it, of that Church which
suffers so much at present, for a strict adherence to the
laws and Christian principles.
For this I suffer, and for this I die."
The Bishops add, that they conceive, that Sir William
Perkins used the term in the same sense, " being assured
(as we are by very good information) that both he and
Sir John Friend had withdrawn themselves from our
public assemblies some time before their death." They
then proceed to arraign the conduct of the three clergymen.
Collier, Snatt, and Cook : " For those clergymen, who
took upon them to absolve these criminals at the place of
execution, by laying, all three together, their hands upon
their heads, and publicly pronouncing a form of absolu-
tion; as their manner of doing this was extremely insolent,
and without precedent, either in our Church or any other
that we know of, so the thing itself was altogether irregular.
The rubric in our office of the visitation of the sick, from
whence they took the words they then used, and upon
which, if upon anything in. our liturgy, they must ground
this their proceeding, gave them no authority nor pretence
for absolving these persons." They further state, that the
rubric relates to sick persons who have made a confession;
while these clergymen absolved notorious criminals, with-
out even moving them to make a special confession of
their sins, the parties themselves not desiring absolution.
It is alleged, that the clergy, as they knew nothing of the
state of mind in which the criminals were, could not
COLLIER. 141
absolve them, without a breach of the order of the Church.
The Bishops also add, that the clergy, if they were aware
of the sentiments of the criminals declared in their
papers, must have viewed them as hardened impenitents, or
martyrs. The Bishops consider the former supposition as
quite out of the question : but they remark on the other,
" If they held these men to be martyrs, then their absolv-
ing them in that manner was a justification of those
grievous crimes for which these men suffered, and an open
affront to the laws both of Church and State." The
Bishops then add, that they were moved by a desire to
prevent the Church from being misunderstood ; and that,
therefore, " we disown and detest all such principles and
practices ; looking upon them as highly schismatical and
seditious, dangerous both to the Church and State, and
contrary to the true doctrine and spirit of the Christian
religion."
To this Collier published a reply ; he regards their
manifesto as an unsupported censure. In this jDaper he
enters, at some length, on the defence of the practice of
the imposition of hands, on the ground of its primitive
use. To the charge, that no such ceremony is enjoined
by the rubric, he replies : " true ; neither is there any
prohibition. The rubric is perfectly silent both as to
posture and gesture, and yet some circumstances of this
nature must of necessity be used. Now since our Church
allows the priest imposition of hands in another case, and
does not forbid it in this, is it any harm if our liberty
moves upward, and determines itself by general usage and
primitive practice ?" Some " Animadversions'' on Collier's
Two Papers were speedily published. They were written
by Hody, and at the command of the Archbishop,
Tennison. Collier, who seldom allowed an opponent to
remain unanswered, was soon ready with a reply. The
only point which it is necessary to notice, relates to the
question of laying on of hands. The animadverter states,
that the ceremony is not retained by the Church of
England : and that consequently ministers should not
142 COLLIER.
make use of any, which are not positively enjoined.
ColHer replies as follows. " His affirming that imposition
of hands is not retained in the Church of England, will
not hold generally speaking. For this ceremony is re-
tained both in orders and confirmation : which is a suffi-
cient argument of its being approved by the Church. But
the Church does not retain it in her absolutions. I grant
'tis not in the rubric for that purpose. And therefore, had
it been used at the Daily Service or upon any solemn
occasion regulated by the Church there might have been
some pretence for exception ; but the rubric and act of
uniformity, mentioned by the animadverter, provide only
against innovations, in stated and public administrations.
'Tis in Churches and Church appointments that the rubric
condemns adding or diminishing. But this is none of the
present case. For the Church has not prescribed us any
ofjice for executions. Every priest is here left to his
liberty, both as to office and gesture, to substance and
ceremony. The devotion may be all private composition,
if the confessor pleases. And when out of respect to the
Church, he selects any part of her liturgy, though the
form is public, the choice and occasion are private, which
makes it fall under another denomination. The selected
office in this case, is like coin melted into bullion. The
public impression is gone : and wath that the forfeitures
for clipping and alloy are gone too : and the honest pro-
prietor may add to the quantity, or alter the figure as he
thinks fit. I confess had the Cliurch excepted against
the imposition of hands in absolution : had she condemned
the ceremony thus applied, and laid a general prohibition
upon it : her members ought to govern themselves accord-
ingly, and not to use it, so much as in private: but since
the Church prescribes this rite in her rubric, and takes
notice of it only by way of practice and approbation : when
matters stand thus, I say, her non-prohibition implies
allowance in private ministrations, and in cases no way
determined by herself For pray what is liberty, but the
absence of command, the silence of authority, and leaving
COLLIER 143
things in their natural indifferency ? Thus the point was
understood and practised by the famous Bishop Sanderson,
upon one of the most solemn occasions, and in which
himself was most nearly concerned. This eminent casuist
about a day before his death, desired his chaplain,
Mr. Pullin, to give him absolution : and at his performing
that office he pulled of his cap, that Mr. Pullin might lay
his hand upon his bare head."
The government of course proceeded on the publication
of the episcopal document, to persecute these clergymen,
although it is difficult to say of what offence they had
been guilty. Cook and Snatt were admitted to bail.
Collier, however, refusing to give bail was outlawed ; and
under this sentence he continued through life, because he
refused to submit. But though outlawed and living in
retirement, he continued to defend his cause by a variety
of papers or pamphlets.
When this affair was over. Collier employed himself in
reviewing and finishing several miscellaneous pieces of
his, which he published under the title of Essays upon
several moral subjects. They consist of three volumes in
8vo; the first of which was printed in the year 1697, the
second in 1705, and the third in 1709. They are written
with such a mixture of learning and wit, and in a style so
easy and flowing, that notwithstanding the prejudice of
party, which ran, as may easily be imagined, strong against
him, they were generally well received, and have gone
through many editicms since. It was the success of the first
volume, which encouraged the author to add the other two.
In the year 1698, he made an attempt to reform the
stage, by publishing his Short View of the immorality and
profaneness of the English stage, together with the sense
of antiquity upon this argument, 8vo. This engaged him
in a controversy with the wits of those times ; and Con-
greve and Vanbrugh, whom, with many others, he had
attacked very severely, appeared openly against him. The
pieces he wrote in this controversy, besides the first
already mentioned, were, his Defence of the Short View,
144 COLLIER.
being a reply to Mr. Congreve's Amendments, &c., and to
the vindication of the author of the Relapse, 1699, 8vo.
A second Defence of the Short View, being a reply to a
book entitled, The Ancient and Modern stages surveyed,
&c., 1700, 8vo : the book here replied to was written by
Dr. Drake. Mr. Collier's Dissuasive from the play-house :
in a letter to a person of quality, occasioned by the late
calamity of the tempest, 1703, 8vo. A farther Vindication
of the Short View, &c., in which the objections of a late
book entitled, a Defence of Plays are considered, 1708, 8vo.
In this controversy with the stage. Collier exerted himself
to the greatest advantage ; and shewed, that a clergyman
might have wit, as well as learning and reason, on his
side. It is remarkable, that his labours here were
attended with success, and actually produced repentance
and amendment ; for it is allowed on all hands, that the
decorum, which has been for the most part observed by
the modern writers of dramatic poetry, is entirely owing
to the animadversions of Collier. What Dryden said
upon this occasion, will shew, that this observation is not
made without sufficient foundation. " I shall say the less
of Mr. Collier, because in many things he has taxed me
justly ; and I have pleaded guilty to all thoughts and
expressions of mine, which can be truly arraigned of
obscenity, profaneness, or immorality, and retract them.
If he be my enemy, let him triumph ; if he be my friend,
as I have given him no personal occasion to be otherwise,
he will be glad of my repentance. It becomes me not to
draw my pen in the defence of a bad cause, when I have
so often drawn it for a good one."
His next publication was a translation of Moreri, of
which the first two volumes were printed in 1701, the
third, under the title of a "Supplement," in 1705, and the
fourth, called an Appendix, in 1721. About 1701 he pub-
lished a translation of the meditations of Marcus Antoni-
nus. In the year 1708 was published the first volume of
that work so often quoted in the present publication, his
" Ecclesiastical History." The second appeared in 1714.
COLLIER. 145
It is distinguished by its bold impartiality as to facts, and
by its determined and thoroughly Anglican character as to
principles. He never fears to declare his principles, but
in giving his facts, he would rather listen to the assertions
of an opponent, than take for granted the declarations of a
partizan. The work being a valuable one, was of course
attacked. Bishop Nicholson and Bishop Kennet, parti-
sans of the Revolution, were his opponents, but Collier
was more than a match for them.
Before the publication of the second volume, in the
year 1713, Collier had been consecrated to the episcopal
oflSce among the Nonjurors, and after the death of the
justly celebrated Hickes, he became the most distinguished
of their prelates, until the body separated into two sections
in consequence of the controversy relating to the usages ;
an account of which shall be given from Lathbury, to
whom the reader has been already indebted.
The controversy did not spring up till after the death of
Hickes : but similar views, with those entertained by the
advocates for alterations, had been advanced in his Chris-
tian Priesthood, which may have had some influence in
the disputes. It is remarkable, that the men, who depre-
cated any changes in 1C89, should have been the first to
alter the Communion Service. They actually split upon
the very rock, that of alterations, which by the good Provi-
dence of God, the Church had avoided — and avoided too
by the opposition of the very men, who now advocated the
change. Any material alterations at the Revolution
might have endangered the Church : aud the changes
made by some of the Nonjurors weakened them so much,
as a party, that they never assumed so compact a form
after this period. The divisions, indeed, which now
sprang up, may be assigned as the remote cause of their
extinction.
The Communion Ofiice, in the First Book of King
Edward, A. D. 1549, differed, as is well known, from that
of the second, and of all our succeeding books, in several
VOL. IV. p
146 COLLIER.
particulars. Certain practices and several petitions were
kid aside, when the book was revised in 1552. In the
year 1717, when this dispute commenced, a reprint of the
first Communion Book was published by the Nonjurors,
wlio wished to adopt the usages, which were rejected when
the book was reviewed.
Collier took the lead in this controversy. Hickes had
expressed his preference of the fiirst Communion Book,
but during his life no formal proposal was made by Collier
to publish a new book. In the year 1717, appeared the
" Reasons for Restoring Some Prayers, d-c.'' The work was
published by Morphew, who was the printer of the Com-
munion Office : from which circumstance, we may infer
the probability, that Collier, or one of the Nonjurors, w^as
the originator of the latter.
This tract was written in a candid and moderate tone.
The author enters very abruptly upon his work : for the
\erj first sentence in the tract is the following : " The
rubric orders the putting a little pure icater to the wine
in the chalice." He then proceeds to adduce evidence in
proof of the antiquity of the practice. Justin Martyr,
irenseus, Clemens Alexandrinus, St. Cyprian, are quoted
as authorities for the practice in early times, besides the
Apostolical Constitutitms. The council of Carthage, A. D.
5^97, the council in Trullo, and the liturgies of St. Basil
and St. Chrysostom are also cited.
The next point is the introduction of the words " Mili-
tant here on Earth,'' after the words " Let us pray for the
whole state of Christ's Church." The previous words,
he says, *' seem inserted to exclude Prayer for the Dead."
In ths first book there was a petition for the desid : and he
contends, that such a recommendation of the departed to
the mercy of God, " is nothing of the remains of popery,
but a constant usage of the primitive Church." Tertullian,
Oypiian, Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Ambrose, St. Epiphanius,
St. Chrysostom, St. Augustin, and the Apostolical Con-
stitutions, with certain ancient liturgies, are quoted in
COLLIER. 147
support of this statement, besides certain individuals, who
actually prayed for deceased friends. Collier argues that
the Church of England, though she condemns the Eomish
doctrine of purgatory, has not condemned prayers for the
dead : and he says : " Where the Church of England has
left her meaning doubtful, the greatest honour we can do
her is to interpret her to a conformity to primitive prac-
tice." Respecting the custom itself he says : " This cus-
tom, which began in the apostolical age, and was continued
through the whole church till the 16th century : this cus-
tom, we conceive, is very serviceable to the ends of reli-
gion : it supposes our friends but removed to a distant
country, and existing in a different condition : and that
they only die in one place to live in another. It refreshes
the belief of the soul's immortality, draws back the curtain
of the grave, and opens a communication between this
world and the other."
The third passage, which he wished to be restored was
the prayer of the descent of the Holy Ghost on the sacra-
mental elements. In the first liturgy was this petition :
" Hear us (0 Merciful Father) we beseech Thee, and with
Thy Holy Spirit and Word vouchsafe to bless and sanctify
these Thy gifts and creatures of bread and wine, that they
may be unto us the Rody and Blood of Thy most dearly
beloved Son, Jesus Christ." He then adduces testimonies
from antiquity in favour of the petition. He admits that
the force of the invocation may be contained in our
present office: but he thinks that express terms are
desirable.
A fourth thing is specified, namely, the restoration of
the Oblatory prayer, which in the first liturgy came after
the consecration prayer. In that prayer are the following
words : " We Thy humble servants do celebrate and make
here before Thy Divine Majesty, with these Thy holy gifts,
the memorial which Thy Son hath willed us to make."
Collier's view of this prayer is thus stated : " The Oblatory
prayer goes upon this ground, that the Holy Eucbarist is
a proper sacrifice : and that our Blessed Saviour, at His
148 COLLIER.
last supper, offered the bread and wine to God the Father
as the symbols of His body and blood, and commanded
His Apostles to do the same." As before, several testi-
monies from antiquity are produced, besides the authority
of Hickes in his Christian Priesthood, and Johnson in his
Unbloody Sacrifice. He closes with an allusion to Bucer,
Calvin, and Peter Martyr, to whom our reformers are sup-
posed to have yielded in rejecting these four practices.
" From hence we infer," says he, " that the explanations,
as they are called, in the second book, were not made
without compliance with the weakness of some people ;
not without condescension to those who had more scruples
than understanding, more heat than light in them."
In a very short time an answer was published by a
Nonjuror. Collier had written with moderation, and the
reply evinces a similar spirit. The writer is anxious to
prevent divisions among themselves : and he is apprehen-
sive of danger from the proposed changes. He takes up
the four points, in the order in which they are ranged by
Collier, and refutes them.
Collier, Brett, and Campbell the Scottish Bishop, were
the chief of that section, by whom the restoration of the
prayers and directions was advocated : while Spinkes,
Gandy, Taylor, and Bedford strenuously contended for a
strict adherence to the liturgy, as now used in the Church
of England.
At the commencement of the year 1718, Collier pub-
lished an answer to the reply to his former pamphlet, in
which he meets the objections alleged by his opponent
against the restoration of the prayers. Collier asks, whe-
ther Justin Martyr is not early enough, the author of ''No
Reason, dc,'' having objected on the ground, that he was
too late as an evidence in such a matter. It would occupy
too much space to go over Collier's reasoning. It may,
therefore, be sufficient to observe, that he enters at great
length into all the arguments advanced by his opponent,
with a view to the establishment of his former positions.
He closes in these words : " The best service we can do
COLLIER. 149
the Church of England, is to recover the main of her first
reformation : to retrieve what she has suffered by inter-
ested views, by foreign direction, and calvinistic alloy.
Thus I humbly conceive she will be remarkably Decus et
tiitamen, and have new strength and lustre upon her.
Thus she will better endure the test of antiquity, be more
covered from assault, and stand impregnable."
The author of " No Reason for restoring, dr.,'' very soon
published another pamphlet in reply to Collier, entitled
** No Sufficient Reason for Restoring some Prayers and
Directions of King Edward VI/s First Liturgy.'' Collier
immediately replied, for his answer was published in the
same year. This is a work of considerable size ; and
every page affords evidence of the learning and talents
of the author. " The Vindication' was replied to by
the author of " iVo Reason, t^c," and ''No Sufficient
Reason, dr." After which Collier published in the year
1720, 'M Farther Defejice, dc, being an Answer to a
Reply to the Vindication of the Reasons and Defence for
Restoring, dc. "
Collier preferred the first Communion Book, while
his opponent was strenuous for adhering to our present
form. The latter considered the practices as immaterial :
and consequently that no sufficient reason could be
pleaded for their restoration. It will be seen that the con-
troversy continued several years : and that the parties
became embittered towards each other as it proceeded.
During the progress of this controversy between the two
sections of the Nonjurors, the new communion office was
actually published.
In the prayer for the King no name is used, but only a
petition for the Sovereign : and of course the four points
contended for by Collier and Brett are incorporated into
the office.
During his latter years, Collier suffered much frnni
attacks of the stone, to which he fell a victim on the
2(Uh of April, ilUQ. His chief works have been alj-eady
•2p
150 COLUMBA.
mentioned. Various smaller publications were at different
periods sent forth by him ; but we are not aware of these
having been enumerated. — Blog. Brit. Lathbury. Collier's
Tracts.
COLUMBA, SAINT.
Saint Columba was bom at Gartan, in the county of
Donegal, about the year of our Lord 522. His baptismal
name was Crimthan ; but in consequence of the remark-
able mildness of his disposition and the gentleness of his
manners, he has ever been surnamed Columba, or the
Dove. Like other religious youths of his age, it was
natural that he should early seek admission into one of
the monastic colleges ; and accordingly we find him first
studying in the monastery of Moville, over which an abbot
named Finian then presided. He continued here until
his admission to deacon's orders, when he placed himself
under the care of Germanus, or Gorman, who was at that
period considered a distinguished instructor of the young ;
and before he completed his studies, he spent some time
at the school of Clonard, whose celebrity has been noticed
already. The life he passed in these schools was a very
strict one. Emulous of evangelic perfection, and inflamed
with the love of Christ, he, as well as the other religious
youths, used to pass their days in voluntary poverty, in
vigils, fastings, and heavenly contemplation. The time
that was not occupied in acts of piety or in study, was
employed in labouring with their hands for their daily
food.
St. Columba commenced his public career in the foun-
dation of the abbey of Derry, in the year 546. This was
only the first of a great number of monastic houses and
churches, which owed their erection to his instrumen-
tality. Indeed, so numerous are they said to have been,
that from this circumstance he received the addition of
" cille" to his name, and is now usually known as
Columb-cille, or Columb of the Churches.
COLUMBA. 151
It was about the year 551 when Columba was admitted
to the priesthood ; and it requires to be noticed that he
never rose to the episcopal order, although few, perhaps,
were better qualified for this sacred office. This circum-
stance, apparently so strange, is thus accounted for in an
old legend : —
" Columba," says the writer, " while still only a deacon,
was sent to a certain Bishop Etchen to be raised to the
episcopal order. Etchen would appear to have been one
of those anchoiite bishops about whom something was
said in the last chapter. He was ploughing in the field
when Columba arrived at his cell ; and as soon as he
heard the name of his visitor, the bishop left his simple
occupation to bid him welcome. Nor, when informed of
the object of his visit, did Etchen hesitate for a moment
compliance with his request. He immediately proceeded
to the solemn ceremony of the ordination ; but (continues
the legend), owing to some oversight, he fixed on the
wrong office, and instead of consecrating him a bishop,
only ordained him a priest. On discovering his mistake,
Etchen offered to go on regularly ; but Columba declined,
and attributing the occurrence to some providential inter-
ference, expressed his resolution to remain in the order of
the priesthood during the rest of his life."
Whatever difficulties may attend the reception of this
story, there is reason to believe it true in all important
particulars ; and it tends to prove the existence in Ireland
of the evil custom censured in the Nicene council, of one
bishop consecrating another without the assistance of
coadjutors. It also leads us to conjecture, that deacons
in the Irish Church were occasionally advanced to the
highest degree, without being required to be ordained
priests.
Some time after his ordination, St. Columba set forth,
with twelve companions, on his eventful expedition to the
Highlands of Scotland. He arrived in that country in the
year 563, and fixed his abode on the small island of lona,
the grant of which he had received from Conall, King of
15a COLUMBA.
the Dal-aradian Scots. Here he erected a monastery, and
commenced his labours for the conversion of the Picts.
These were attended with so much success, that his fame
spread through every part of Britain ; and the monastery
of lona became in time, the chief seat of learning and
piety in the Western Isles. But after some years of
anxious exertion, his attention was diverted from the care
of his converts to the social troubles of Ireland. There
was a dispute between Aid, the King of Ireland, and his
kinsman Aidan, King of the Albanian Scots, respecting
the right of possession to the territory of Dal-aradia. Both
sovereigns laid a claim to it : the Scottish prince asserting
that the land in dispute belonged to him by right of here-
ditary succession ; while the Irish monarch was unwilling
that a foreign prince should enjoy any sovereignty in his
dominions. And, in addition to the dangers that thus
threatened the integrity of the kingdom, the overgrown
power of the fileas, or bards, greatly obstructed its internal
tranquillity. Their rude rhymes were very acceptable to
the Irish populace, who would never grow wearied of listen-
ing to their panegyrics on the national valour, or the heroic
deed of some favourite warrior. The bards were not slow
in marking the effect of their songs upon the people— how
the popular attention was riveted, and their enthusiasm
excited ; but they made use of their acquired influence for
the very worst ends. Intent only upon enriching them-
selves, they did not hesitate to defame those who would
not purchase their good- will with costly presents : and,
protected as they were, by the favour of the people, they
seemed conscious that no harm could happen to their
persons. They therefore increased in licentious boldness,
and by the virulence of their satirical verses, wounded
many of the influential chieftains of the day, who bore
with the evil until it appeared no longer endurable.
To find some remedy for this abuse, as well as to settle
the affair about the Dal-aradian territory, an assembly of
the states of the kingdom was convened at Drum-ceat, in
the county of Deiry, in the year 590. The council con-
COLUMBA. 153
sisted of the Irish Monarch, the nobles, and the clergy,
who, since the conversion of the island to the Christian
faith, had in a great measure succeeded to the political
privileges of the pagan Druids. Columba came over from
lona to attend the council, and by his mediation, succeed-
ed in preserving the order of the bards from the sentence
of abolition, contemplated by the King and nobles. He
conceived that no good end could result from the extinc-
tion of an order so intimately connected with the manners
of the people ; and therefore proposed that, instead of
extirpating them altogether, the assembly should be satis-
fied with correcting their excesses, and enacting laws for
their more effectual control in future. To this proposal
there was at first some little opposition, but it was in the
end unanimously conceded to. The Dal-aradian dispute
was also arranged to the satisfaction of all parties. By
the advice of St. Columba, the whole matter was left to
the arbitration of a holy person named Col man, who gave
it as his decision, that the province — so far as the payment
of tribute and similar affairs was concerned — ought to be
subject to the Irish Monarch ; but that the Scots, as being
themselves the descendants of the Dal-aradians, might
call upon them for aid and assistance in times of just
necessity. And the readiness with which this decision
was acquiesced in, is a proof of the estimation in which
the integrity of religious men was then held, as well as
of the extensive power that was on more than one occasion
conceded to them.
Upon the breaking up of the council, Columba proceed-
ed to visit some of his Irish monasteries ; and after com-
pleting his inspection of them, returned to his favourite
residence at lona. Here he ended his days on the 9th of
June, in the year 597. His remains were buried in lona;
but at a subsequent period are said to have been transla-
ted to Ireland, and placed in the same tomb with that of
Patrick and Bridgit, at Downpatrick. — The ivJiole of this.
Account is taken from Todd's Ancient Church in Ireland.
154 COLUMBANUS.
C0LUMBANU3, SAINT.
Saint Columbanus was an emiDent Christian mis-
sionary of the sixth century. lie was born in Ireland, in
the year 560, in the province of Lagcnia, or Leinster. In
his youth he learnt the liberal arts, grammar, rhetoric and
geometry ; but as he had a graceful person, and fearing
that he should become subject to the temptations of plea-
sure, he left his country, notwithstanding his mother's oppo-
sition, and going into another province of Ireland, he put
himself under the guidance of a venerable person named
Silen, who so well instructed in sacred literature, that
even in his youth he composed a treatise upon the psalms,
and some other works. He afterwards entered into the
monastery of Bancor, the most famous of Ireland, at that
time under the government of the Abbot Cornmogel, or
Congal, and lived there several years, accustoming him-
self to works of mortification. To disengage himself yet
more from the world, he purposed to travel into a foreign
country, aft(!r the example of Abraham. He communicated
his intention to the abbot, who with great difficulty suf-
fered himself to be deprived of such an assistant ; but at
last believing that it was God's will, he consented to it.
St. Columbanus having received his benediction, departed
from Bancor with twelve other monks, being about thirty
years of age. They passed into Great Britain, and from
thence to Gaul. The faith was there entire, but the dis-
cipline much neglected, whether by the incursions of
foreigners, or the remissness of the prelates.
Columbanus preached in all places through which he
passed, and his virtues added great weight to his instruc-
tions. He was so humble, that he always contended with
his companions for the lowest place : they were all of one
mind ; their modesty, sobriety, gentleness, patience and
charity, made them universally admired. If any one was
guilty of a fault, they all joined in reforming his error.
Kvery thing was in common ; nor was ever any contradic-
COMBEFIS. 155
tion, or hard words heard among them. In whatsoever
place they abode, their example inspired an universal
piety. Columbanus' reputation reached even to the court
of the King of Burgundy : this was Gontran, who, upon
hearing his character, desired him to stay in his kingdom,
and otTered him whatsoever he should desire. The holy
man thanked him, saying, that he desired nothing but to
cari7 his cross after Jesus Christ, and chose the vast
Desart of Vosge for his retreat, where among the rocks,
and in a most barren place, he found the ruins of an
old castle named Anagrates, at present Anegray, and
there settled with his companions. This was his first
monastery.
In 589 he founded the monastery of Luxcvil, near
Besangon, which lie governed for twenty years. In 508
he engaged in a controversy with pope (Gregory c(mcerning
the proper time of keeping Easter; but he at length
submitted to the court of Rome. From France he was
banished for censuring the immoralities of Theodoric and
his Queen ; he then went to Switzerland, where he was
kindly received by Theodebert, King of that country, and
was successful in converting the pagans ; but the; Swiss
army being defeated by the Fiench, he was obliged to
remove to Italy, where, under the protection of the King
of the Lombards, he founded in 013, the abbey of Bobio,
near Naples. Over this monastery he presided but a
short time; he died on the 21st of November, 615. — Cave
Fleury.
COMBEiaS, FRANCIS.
Francis Combefis was born in 1005 at Marmauile, and
at twenty years of age assumed the habit of a Benedictine,
at Bordeaux, where he taught philosophy and theology.
lie entered a convent of his order at Paris, in 1040.
lU'ing learned in the Greek language, he undertook. the
ofhce (jf editor to several of the ancient fathers, and dedi-
cated fifty years of his Ufe to this work. He was not by
156 COMBER.
any means so skilled in Latin, as he was in Greek, and
his translations are obscure, and sometimes nearly unin-
telligible. He died in 1679. His principal works are —
1. S.S. Patrum, Amphilochii, Methodii, et Andrese Ore-
tensis opera Omnia, Paris, 1644, 2 vols, folio. 2. Graeco-
Latinse Patrum Bibliothecse novum auctuarium, 1648,
2 vols, folio. 3. Bibliotheca Patrum concionatoria, 1662,
8 vols, folio. 4. Originum rerumque Constantinopoli-
tanarum et variis autoribus manipulus, etc., 1664, in 4to.
5. Bibliotheca Graecorum Patrum auctuarium novissi-
mum, Grsece et Latine, 1672, 2 vols, in folio. 6. Eccle-
siastes Grsecus, 1674, in 8vo. 7. S. Maximi opera, 1675,
2 vols, folio. 8. Basilius Magnus ex integro recensitus,
etc., 1679, 2 vols, 8vo. 9. Historioe Byzantinas Scriptores
post Theophanem usque ad Nicephorum Phocam, GrEece
et Latine, 1685, folio. — Biorjraphie Universelle.
COMBER, THOMAS.
Thomas Comber was born at Westerham, in Kent,
March 19th, 1644. His father was persecuted for his
loyalty, and obliged to take refuge in Flanders, leaving
young Comber to be educated by his mother. At the
period of her death, in 1672, he gratefully remembered
the care she took of his education, describing her as " a
person of great understanding, lovely aspect, and admirable
piety, and so tender of me, that her whole life was dedi-
cated to my improvement in learning and virtue ; and I
believe no son and mother did more entirely love each
other, nor did I ever know any thing touch my heart so
near as her death." Under her superintendence he re-
ceived his primary education at the school of his native
place, where his progress was so rapid that he could read
and write Greek before he was ten years old. Thence he
removed, in 1653, to London, and passed some time under
a schoolmaster, a distant relation; and in 1656 he re-
turned to his first master at Westerham. In 1659 lie was
COMBER. 157
admitted of Sidney-Sussex College, Cambridge, where he
was placed under the care of the Rev. Edmund Matthews,
B.D., senior fellow and preside.it of the college, to whom
he acknowledges his obligations for the pains he took in
instructing him in science and in the languages. In 1 66:2
he was chosen scholar of the house. Having been ad-
mitted to the degree of B.A. in 1662, he was obliged, by the
narrowness of his circumstances, to leave the university,
and retire to his mother's house. In this situation, how-
ever, he was befriended by a Mr. John Holney, of Eden-
bridge, who, discerning his talents, made him a handsome
present, and signified to him his wish that he would draw
upon him at any time for any sum he might require.
Early in 1663 he accepted an invitation to the house of
the Rev. William Holland, rector of Allhallows, Staining,
London, whose assistant he became. Soon after he was
invited to be curate to the Rev. Gilbert Bennet, who held
the living of Stonegrave, in Yorkshire, At Stonegrave,
his character having recommended him to the notice of
Mr. Thornton, of East Newton, he was invited to reside at
that gentleman's house, and he afterwards married one of
his daughters. In 1669 Mr. Bennet resigned to him the
living of Stonegrave, as he had promised to do when he
engaged him as his curate. Having long been an admirer
of the church-service, he determined to recommend it to
the public, which at that time was frequently interested
in disputes respecting set forms and extempore prayer :
and with this view he published, about 167-2, the first part
of his Companion to the Temple ; in 1674 the second
part; and in 1675 the third part, of which a different
arrangement was adopted in the subsequent editions.
In 1677 he was installed prebendary of Holme, in the
metropolitan church of York ; and the same year a third
edition of his Companion to the Temple was published,
together with his first book on the Right of Tithes, &c.,
against Elwood the Quaker, and his Friendly and Season-
able Advice to the Roman Catholics of England. This
VOT, IV. Q
15S COMBER.
little book was republished with alterations and notes by
the author of these biographies about twenty years ago,
and is now reprinting, so valuable does it appear to him,
and so profitable for these times. The same year appeared
his Brief Discourse on the Offices of Baptism, Catechism,
and Confirmation, dedicated to Dr. Tillotson. In 1678
he was presented to the living of Thornton by Sir Hugh
Cholmeley. In 1680 he published, in answer to Selden s
History of Tithes, the first part of his Historical Vindica-
tion of the Divine Right of Tithes, and in 1681 the second
part. Some time in this year he published a tract, enti-
tled Religion and Loyalty, intended to convince the Duke
of York that no person in succession to the throne of
England ought to embrace popery : but to persuade the
people of England not to alter the succession.
In 1683 a correspondence took place between him and
Dr. Grenville, who wrote to him to tell him of some
kind expressions used towards him by the Archbishop of
Canterbury, Dr. Sancroft ; in the course of this letter
Dr. Grenville, speaking of his waiting upon the Archbishop
of York, says, " I could not have any private conference
with his grace to fling in any item concerning you, or my
own great affair about the weekly Sacrament, which above
all other matters oppresses my mind." " I am told," adds
he, " by Dr. Beveridge that it is intended to have one,
when St. Paul's is rebuilt, in that cathedral ; and by the
Dean of Canterbury, that they are likely soon to set up
one in their church, which will have a great influence on
all the cathedrals in the kingdom. Dr. Beveridge his
devout practice and order in his church, doth exceedingly
edify the city, and his congregation increases every week :
he hath seldom less than four-score, sometimes six or seven
score communicants, and a great many young apprentices,
who come there every Lord's day with great devotion.
The doctor approves of my honest designs, and hath con-
firmed me very much in my resolutions, and will be I
pv(3mise myself a very useful friend to me.
COMBER. 159
" When your folio edition on the Common Prayer
comes forth," adds the doctor, " I promise myself the
honour of presenting it to the King ; it will prove a very
good application to my sermon, which begins and ends
you know with my beloved mistress the Common Prayer
Book."
The object of procuring a w^eekly Communion in all the
cathedrals throughout the kingdom, which Dr. Grenville
calls his great affair, seems indeed to have been very near
his heart, for amongst the numerous letters he wrote
to Dr. Comber, and which are still extant, he presses this
point with great zeal, desiring his correspondent to use
his utmost exertions to effect this great point.
This good, affectionate, and amiable man, in another
letter says, " But to return to my old topic of pushing on
the weekly Sacrament, you and I are more particularly
concerned in this good work, than any other clergymen
that I know of in the whole province, and I am certain
that it is the expectation of several clergy and devout
people in these parts, that we should do more than others.
You are looked on to be the greatest champion for the
Common Prayer Book in the whole country, (nay per-
chance in all England ;) and I am considered as one of
the more exact observers of the rubric, and sticklers for
conformity ; and I dare without pride or vanity own that
I am a hearty lover of the book, and have in me some
innate zeal for order. Really Dr. Comber this is a great
and excellent work, and will do God more service than all
your past labours, or my past endeavours since our first
coming into the ministry. It will have a wonderful influ-
ence over all the north, and shame the other cathedrals into
the like practice : which accompanied with such a circular
letter as my Lord of Canterbury intends to send to the
bishops of his own province, would in a powerful manner
preach to all the inferior clergy, not only frequent com-
munion, but exact conformity. Without doubt these
means that are of Christ's own institution, and the incom-
parable established order of our own church, (the most
160 COMBER.
incomparable and unexceptionable institution in all Chris-
tendom,) are the most probable means to revive religion,
devotion, conformity, and loyalty, in the land."
The design of establishing weekly Communions, which
the doctor seems to have desired so earnestly, was soon
afterwards carried into execution in the metropolitan
church of Canterbury, as appears from a letter of
Dr. Tillotson, Dean of Canterbury, still extant: the same
laudable practice was also established about the same time
in the cathedral of York, as appears from divers letters to
and from our author.
In 1683 Dr. Dolben was appointed to the metropolitan
see of York, and one of his first acts was, to obtain for
Comber the precentorship of York Minster. In 1685 the
Archbishop of York offered him the Archdeaconry of Cleve-
land, now void by Dr. Long s death ; but he, excusing
himself, recommended his old friend Dr. Burton, rector of
Sutton, who had been Mr. Thornton's preceptor previous
to his going to college. His grace paid so much attention
to this recommendation, that he gave the arclideaconry to
the doctor.
At his request the Archbishop of York issued his com-
mands to have the holy Communion administered every
Lord's day in the cathedral at York, and on the 26th of
April this laudable practice first began. There is extant
a letter from Dr. Grenville to the precentor on this
subject, in which he speaks in very enthusiastic terms
on this head.
The precentor began his second residence at York the
11th of May, and on the 14th was elected a procurator for
King James's convocation, which was to open on the 20th
of the same month.
King James having, very soon after the death of his
brother Charles II., published certain papers, said to have
been found in his late majesty's box, and which pretended
to give an account of the reasons which induced him to
turn to the religion of Home, the precentor wrote shorty
but severe animadversions upon them ; he likewise did
COMBER. 161
the same thing with those called the Duchess's Papers,
which gave a like weak and improbable account of her per
version to the Romish religion.
In 1688 King James sent a silver crosier to York, and
a conge d'elire, with a recommendation of Dr. Smith, a
popish priest, but the chapter of York, under the influence
of Comber, though he was not present on the occasion, in-
stead of acceding to the royal mandate, elected Dr. Thomas
Lamplugb, Bishop of Exeter. In all the proceedings of
the Revolution Comber heartily concurred, and was a
most determined Whig, vindicating the loyalty of King
William's government, but at the same time attending
with devotion to the duties of his holy oflBce. Among his
papers was found a memorandum, that " an unknown
person sent a noble crimson velvet cloth with rich em-
broidery, and gold fringe, to adorn the altar of the
cathedral," and he prays that God may reward his alms
done in secret, very openly, observing that it was a very
seasonable and liberal gift.
In 1691 the revolutionary government appointed him
to the deanery of Durham, in the place of his old admirer
and friend, Dr. Grenville, who became a Nonjuror, and
attended the King to France. Dr. Grenville repeatedly
wrote to Dean Comber, treating him as an intruder, and
desiring him to consider himself only as his steward until
he with King James should have his own again. Comber
died in 1699, of a consumption, before he had completed
his 55 th year.
Besides the works already noticed. Dr. Comber wrote,
1. A Scholastical History of the primitive and general Use
of Liturgies in the Christian Church; together with an
Answer to Mr. David Clarkson's late Discourse concern-
ing Liturgies, London, 1690, dedicated to King WilHam
and Queen Mary. 2. A Companion to the Altar ; or, an
Help to the worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper, by
Discourses and Meditations upon the whole Communion-
Ofiace. 3. A brief Discourse upon the Offices of Baptism,
q2
ICa COMPTON.
Catechism, and Confirmation, printed at the end of the
Companion to the Altar. 4. A Discourse on the Occa-
sional Offices in the Common Prajer, viz : Matrimony,
Visitation of the Sick, Burial of the Dead, Churching of
Women, and the Commination. 5. A Discourse upon the
Manner and Form of making Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons, London, 1699, 8vo, dedicated to Archbishop
Tenison. 6. Short Discourses upon the whole Common
Prayer, designed to inform the judgment, and excite the
devotion of such as daily use the same, chiefly by way of
paraphrase, London, 1684, Bvo, dedicated to Anne, Prin-
cess of Denmark, to whom the author was chaplain.
7. Roman Forgeries in the Councils during the first
four centuries ; together with an Appendix, concerning
the Forgeries and Errors in the Annals of Baronius, ibid,
1689, 4to. — Comber's Life of Comber.
COMPTON, HENEY.
Henky Compton, youngest son of Spencer, second
Earl of Northampton, was born at Compton, in 1632.
He received his primary education at a grammar school,
and was, in 1649, entered a nobleman of Queen s College,
Oxford, where he continued till about 1552, and soon
after travelled on the continent. At the Restoration he
returned to England, and became a cornet in a regiment
of horse, raised about that time for the King's guard ; but
soon quitting that post, he went to Cambridge, where he
was created M,A., and entering into orders when about
thirty years of age, he was admitted canon of Christ
Church, Oxford, in the beginning of 1666. In April of
the same year he was incorporated M. A. at Oxford, hold-
ing at that time the rectory of Cottenham, in Cambridge-
shire. In 1667 he was made master of St. Cross, near
Winchester. In May 1669 he was installed canon of
Christ Church. In December 1674 he was preferred to
COMPTON. 163
the Bishopric of Oxford, and about a year after he was
made dean of the Chapel Royal, and was also translated
to the see of London. Anthony Wood tells us, that
" this translation w^as much promoted by some of the
politic clergy, because they knew him to be a bold man,
an enemy to the papists, and one that would act and
speak, what they would put him upon, which they them-
selves would not be seen in, as many prime papists used
to say." Bishop Burnet informs us further, that " this
translation was effected through the Earl of Danby's
interest ; to whom the Bishop, he says, was a property,
and turned by him as he pleased. The Duke of York
hated him ; but Lord Danby persuaded both the King
and the Duke, that as his heat did no great hurt to any
person, so the giving way to it helped to lay the jealousies
of the church party. He tells us also, that Archbishop
Sheldon dying about a year after that, Compton was per-
suaded Lord Danby had tried with all his strength to
promote him to Canterbury ; though that, he says, was
never once attempted."
Charles II. caused him to be sworn one of his privy-
council, and committed to him the education of his two
nieces, the Princesses Mary and Anne, whose attachment
to the protestant Church was owing in a great measure to
their tutor. Compton had early indulged the vain hope
of bringing the dissenters to a sense of the necessity of a
union among protestants ; to promote which, he held
several conferences with his own clergy, the substance of
w^hich he published in July, 1680. He further hoped
that dissenters might be the more easily reconciled to the
Church, if the judgment of foreign divines should be pro-
duced against their needless separation ; and for that
purpose he wrote to M. le Moyne, professor of divinity at
Leyden, to M. de lAngle, one of the preachers of the
protestant church at Charenton, near Paris, and to
M. Claude, another eminent French preacher. Their an-
swers are published at the end of Bishop Stillingfieet s
Unreasonableness of Separation, 1681, 4 to.
164 COMPTON.
The answers are not of much value ; they are evidently
written by men overwhelmed with a sense of the honour
done them by " Monseigneur," the Bishop, and wishing
to write what would please him without committing them-
selves. They all agree in thinking dissent unreasonable,
but they evidently were not acquainted with the circum-
stances of the case. There is nothing unreasonable in
those who do not hold sacramental religion, who reject
the notion of baptismal regeneration, and of the E,eal
Presence in the Eucharist, separating themselves from
the Church of England: the difficulty must be with them
to reconcile to their consciences conformity to the Church,
until these doctrines are received. It is on other grounds
that they must be persuaded, not to join the Church, but,
preparatory to their union, to accept the Church's faith.
To popery Bishop Compton was an unflinching enemy.
He omitted no opportunity of arresting its progress v»'hen
it was gaining ground in the reign of Charles II. ; and on
the accession of James II. he had the honour of being
dismissed from the council-table, and from the deanery of
the Chapel Royal. But the event of Bishop Compton 's
life, which has rendered his character historical, is that
w^hich relates to the proceedings against him in the
council chamber at Whitehall, before the Lords commis-
sioners appointed by King James the Second, in 1686.
The Lord Chancellor, who appears in these proceedings,
is the notorious Judge Jeffries. The following account is
taken from the State Trials : —
On Thursday, the 17th of June, Mr. Atterbury the
messenger, delivered a letter from his majesty, to my Lord
Bishop of London, at Fulham ; which letter was dated
Monday, June the I4th, and took notice, " that notwith-
standing the directions his majesty had given concerning
preachers, the 15th of March, 1685, Dr. John Sharp had,
in some sermons, presumed to make unbecoming reflec-
tions ; and used such expressions as tended to beget in
the minds of his hearers, an evil opinion of his majesty
and his government, and to dispose the people to rebel-
COMPTON. 165
lion. And therefore commanded the Bishop to suspend
the said Dr. John Sharp from preaching, till his majesty's
pleasure was further known."
In answer to which, my Lord Bishop of London wrote
to my Lord Sunderland the next day, being the 18th of
June, and sent the letter by Dr. Sharp. Wherein he
acquaints my Lord Sunderland, " He was concerned he
could not comply with his majesty's commands : that
being to act as a judge in this case, he could not condemn
the doctor till he had been cited, and he had knowledge
of the cause ; but that he had sent to the doctor, and
acquainted him with his majesty's displeasure, and found
him so ready to make all reasonable satisfaction, that he
had thought fit to make him the bearer of this answer.
The Sunday following Dr. Sharp carried a petition to
Windsor, which was not permitted to be read.
The substance of the petition was, that nothing could
be so afflictive as his unhappiness in having incurred his
majesty's displeasure, which he was so sensible of, that
he had forborne all public exercise of his function ever
since.
That he had ever faithfully endeavoured to do the best
service he could, as well to the late King as his majesty,
both by preaching and otherwise ; and that he had been
60 far from venting any thing that tended to schism or
faction, or the disturbance of the government, that he had
upon all occasions set himself against such doctrines and
principles as looked that way. But if any thing had slipt
from him, that was capable of giving any offence to his
majesty, he declared he had no ill intentions in those
expressions, and was heartily sorry for them ; and that he
would be so careful in the discharge of his duty for the
future, that his majesty should have reason to believe him
his most faithful subject ; and therefore desired to be
restored to the same favour the rest of the clergy enjoyed
under his majesty's government.
On Wednesday the 4th of August, 1686, my Lord Bishop
of London appeared before the commissioners, a<icording
166 COMPTON.
to their summons, at the council chamber at Whitehall ;
present, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Bishop of Durham,
Lord Treasurer, Lord Bishop of Rochester, Lord Presi-
dent, Lord Chief Justice Herbert.
The Lord Chancellor demanded why my Lord Bishop
of London had not suspended Dr. Sharp, according to the
King's command ?
The Lord Bishop of London answered, that he was
advised he could not legally do it, but by way of citation
and hearing him.
Lord Chancellor. You ought to have known the law
better: the King is to be obeyed, and if you have any
reasons to offer we are ready to hear you.
The Lord Bishop of London desired a copy of their
commission, and a copy of his charge ; and if he might
not have a copy of their commission, that he might read
it, or hear it read. Then he was ordered to withdraw ;
and being called again in about a quarter of an hour, the
Lord Chancellor acquainted him that the commissioners
were of opinion his request could not be granted : that if
every one that appeared there should demand a sight of
their commission their whole time would be taken up in
reading of it. That the proceedings of courts of this kind
were not by libel and articles, but by word of mouth ; and
it was a short question only they asked, why he did not
obey the King ?
My Lord Bishop of London desired the commissioners
to consider he was a peer and a bishop, and he desired to
behave himself as becomes one in those capacities ; and
hoped they would give him time till the next term to
make his defence.
The commissioners said, they thought that unreason-
able, but they would give his lordship a week's time ; and
then adjourned to the 9th of August.
On the 9th of August, the same' commissioners being
present, my Lord Bishop of London came before them,
attended by his nephew, the Earl of Northampton, Sir
John Nicholas, and his brother, Sir Francis Compton.
COMPTON. 167
My Lord Bishop of London said, he had not been able
to meet with their commission, till the night before,
though he was told he might see it in every coffee-house.
The Lord Chancellor answered, they would admit no
quarrelling at their commission ; they were well assured
of the legality of it, or they would not be such fools as to
sit there.
My Lord Bishop of London said, he desired a sight of
their commission, because, possibly, it might not reach
him, being a peer and a bishop ; and that he had not had
time to advise about it, and therefore desired a fortnight
longer, (which was granted.)
On Tuesday the 23rd day of August, my Lord Bishop
of London appeared before the same commissioners again.
Lord Bishop. My Lord, I have consulted those that
are very learned in the laws, who tell me that your pro-
ceedings in this court are directly contrary to the statute
law ; and they are here to plead it, if your lordship will
admit them.
Lord Chancellor. We will neither hear your lordship
nor your council in the matter : w^e are sufiBciently satis-
fied of the legality of our commission.
Lord Bishop. My lord, I am a bishop of the Church
of England ; and by all the law in the Christian Church,
in all ages, and by the particular law of this land, I am,
in case of offence, to be tried by my metropolitan and
suffragans : I hope your lordship will not deny the rights
and privileges of Christian bishops.
Lord Chancellor. My Lord, you know our proceedings
are according to what has been done formerly, and that
we have an original jurisdiction ; this is still questioning
our court.
Lord Bishop. My lords, protesting in my own right to
the laws of the realm, as a subject, and the rights and
privileges of the Church, as a bishop, I shall give in my
answer.
The answer was accepted, and the bishop withdrew ;
and after half an hour, the bishop and his council were
168 COMPTON.
called in, who were Dr. Oldish, Dr. Hodges, Dr. Price,
and Dr. Newton; whom the bishop desired might be
heard.
They argued, that the words of the King's letter being,
that you suspend him from preaching, this could not
be done by our laws without a citation, and proceeding to
judgment thereupon. But if by that expression only the
silencing the doctor was intended, then the bishop had
executed the King's commands in such a method as is
observed in their courts.
For where an eminent person is accused the judges
send him a letter ; and if he appears and complies with
the judges' order, the law^ is satisfied. Here the bishop
sent for Dr. Sharp, and advised him not to preach till the
King had received satisfaction : and he observed his lord-
ship's directions, and had not preached to this very day ;
so that his majesty's command was in effect fulfilled.
That the bishop had done what was his duty ; he was
bound to return his reason to the King why he did not
do that which he commanded, and to expect his farther
answer, w^iich was done. That if a prince or pope com-
mand any thing unlawful it is the duty of a judge Rescri-
bere Principi, and attend his further pleasure, and this is
all he can do. That as in nature no man can be obliged
to do that which is impossible ; so no man can be obliged
to do an unlawful act.
Lord Bishop. If through mistake I have erred in any
circumstance I am ready to beg his majesty's pardon,
and shall be ready to make any reparation I am capable.
The bishop withdrew for half an hour and then was
called in and acquainted that the commissioners would
be there again on Wednesday next, when his lordship
was directed to attend.
Die Luna 6 Septemh. 1686.
Lord Chancellor. You were desired to appear this day
to hear your sentence ; which to prevent mistake we have
ordered to be put in writing.
COMPTON. 169
Lord Bishop. My lord, may I have leave to speak
before sentence is read ?
Lord Chancellor. My lord, we have heard you and your
council already.
Then the instrument of suspension was read by Mr.
Bridgman, their lordships' register, viz :
By his Majesty's Commissioners for Ecclesiastical
Affairs, dc.
Whereas, Henry, Lord Bishop of London, hath been
convened before us, for his disobedience, and other his
contempts, mentioned in the proceedings of this cause ;
and the said Bishop being fully heard thereupon, we have
thought fit, upon mature consideration of the matter, to
proceed to this our definitive sentence ; declaring, pro-
nouncing, and decreeing, that the said Heniy, Lord Bishop
of London, shall, for his said disobedience and contempt,
be suspended during his majesty's pleasure. And accord-
ingly we do, by these presents, suspend him, the said
Lord Bishop of London ; peremptorily admonishing and
requiring him hereby to abstain from the function and
execution of his episcopal office, and from all episcopal and
other ecclesiastical jurisdiction, during the said suspension,
upon pain of deprivation and removal from his bishopric.
Sealed with the seal of the court, and dated the 6th
of September, 1686.
Some days after, an instrument was delivered by a
messenger to the Dean of St. Paul's, requiring him to
cause the said sentence to be affixed to the door of the
Chapter-house ; and on the place then called the south
door of St. Paul's.
The Bishop refusing to recognize the legality of the
court or its sentence, thought prudent to refrain from the
performance of any episcopal act in his diocese, but this did
not prevent his making a stand as one of the governors of
the Charter House, against the King, in refusing Andrew
TOL. IV. R
170 COMPTON.
Popham, a papist, into the first pensioner's place in that
hospital. He then retired to Fulham, where he reroained
till the Revolution called him again into action. His sus-
pension was such a flagrant act of tyrannical injustice,
that the Prince of Orange in his declaration, could not
omit taking notice of it; and, upon the dread of his
highness's coming over, the court was willing to make the
Bishop reparation, by restoring him, as they did on the
23rd of September, 1688, to his episcopal function. But
he made no haste to resume his charge, and to thank the
King for his restoration ; which made some conjecture,
and as was afterwards found rightly enough, that he had
no inclination to be restored in that manner, and that he
knew well enough what had been doing in Holland. The
first part the Bishop took in the Revolution, which imme-
diately ensued, was the conveying, jointly with the Earl
of Dorset, the Princess Anne of Denmark from London to
Nottingham ; lest she, in the present confusion of affairs,
might have been sent away into France, or put under
restraint, because the prince, her consort, had left King
James, and was gone over to the Prince of Orange.
Bishop Burnet has given us a particular account of this
transaction in the following words :
" When the news came to London of Prince G-eorge of
Denmark having joined the Prince of Orange, the Princess
Anne was so struck with the apprehensions of the King's
displeasure, and of the ill effects it might have, that she
said to the Lady Churchill that she could not bear the
thoughts of it, and would leap out at a window rather than
venture on it. The Bishop of London was then lodged
very secretly in Suffolk Street : so the Lady Churchill,
who knew where he was, went to him and concerted with
him the method of the Princess's withdrawing from court.
The Princess went sooner to bed than ordinary : and about
midnight, she went down a back stairs from her closet,
attended only by Lady Churchill, in such haste, that they
carried nothing with them. They were waited for by the
COMPTON. 171
Bishop of London, who carried them to the Earl of
Dorset's, whose lady furnished them with every thing:
and so they went northward as far as Northampton,
where that earl attended on them with all respect, and
quickly brought a body of horse to serve for a guard to
the Princess. x\nd in a little while a small army was
formed about her, who chose to be commanded by the
Bishop of London; of which, says Bishop Burnet, he
too easily accepted."
On his return to London he was as zealous and instru-
mental as any man in completing the Pievolution. He
first set his hand to the association begun at Exeter. He
waited on the Prince of Orange, on the 21st of December,
at the head of his clergy ; and in their names and his own,
thanked his highness, for his very great and most hazard-
ous undertaking for their deliverance, and the preservation
of the Protestant religion, with the ancient laws and liber-
ties of this nation. He gave his royal highness the Holy
Communion upon the 30th of December, and, upon the
2 9 th of January following, when the house of lords, in a
grand committee, debated the important question, " Whe-
ther the throne, being vacant, ought to be filled by a
regent or a king?" Dr. Compton was one of the two
Bishops, Sir Jonathan Trelawny, Bishop of Bristol, being
the other, who made the majority for filling up the throne
by a king. On the 14th of February, he was again ap-
pointed one of the privy council, and made dean of the
royal chapel ; from both which places King James had
removed him : and afterwards pitched upon by King Wil-
liam, to perform the ceremony of his and Queen Mary's
coronation, upon the 11th of April, 1689.
Archbishop Sancroft being a nonjuror, Bishop Compton
was appointed president of the convocation of 1689. Be-
fore, however, the convocation was convened, a preparatory
step was taken — namely, the appointment of a commission
under the great seal to draw up and prepare matters for
the consideration of the synod. On the 24th of May,
1689, the '' Act for exempting their Majesties' Protestant
172 COMPTON.
Subjects dissenting from the Church of England from the
Penalties of certain Laws,'' called the Act of Toleration,
received the royal assent. Still many dissenters wished
for a comprehension with the Church. A bill on the
subject had passed the house of lords ; but on its reach-
ing the commons, they considered that the question was
more suitable for a convocation. The lords, therefore,
concurred in an address to the throne to that effect. To
prepare the way, the royal commission was issued,
authorizing certain individuals to meet and prepare alter-
ations in the liturgy and canons, and to consider other
matters connected with the Church. It was dated in
September, 1689.
The commissioners frequently met, but some of the
members who were named absented themselves, especially
Dr. Jane, the regius professor of divinity in Oxford, on
the ground that alterations were not required, and that
the present was not the season for such discussions. The
majority, however, proceeded in the work. The point of
greatest difficulty was that oi re-ordination ; but it was at
last settled by the commissioners that the hypothetical
form should be adopted in the case of the dissenters as in
the case of uncertain baptism, in these words : " If thou
art not already ordained, I ordain thee.'' This would have
satisfied many of the nonconformists. Burnet says, "We
had before us all the books and papers that they had at
any time offered, setting forth their demands ; together
with many advices and propositions which had been made
at several times by most of the best and most learned
of our divines, of which the late most learned Bishop of
Worcester had a great collection : so we prepared a scheme
to be laid before the convocation, but did not think that
we ourselves, much less that any other person, was any
way limited or bound to comply with what we resolved to
propose."
The commissioners were prepared to go great lengths,
and to suggest some unjustifiable alterations in the
liturgy, — (See Life of TiUotson) — but the government per-
COMPTON. 173
ceived that there was no hope of success with the lower
house of convocation, and that any attempt to make altera-
tions would only strengthen the party of those good men who
were nonjurors. In 1690 Compton attended William III.
to the congress at the Hague, wdrere the grand alliance
against France w^as concluded. But, notwithstanding the
zealous part he acted in the revolution, though the metro-
politan see of Canterbury was twice vacant in that reign,
yet he still continued Bishop of London. At the accession
of Queen Anne he was sworn of the privy-council, and was
put in the commission for the union of England and
Scotland. He greatly promoted the act for making effec-
tual the Queen's intention for the Augmentation of the
Maintenance of the Poor Clergy, by enabling her Majesty
to grant the revenues of the first-fruits and tenths. He
maintained an amicable correspondence with foreign Pro-
testants, as appears from letters, afterwards printed at
Oxford, which passed between him and the university of
Geneva in 1706. It was his ultra-protestantism which
rendered Bishop Compton unpopular with the clergy,
and probably hindered his advancement to Canterbury.
Towards the close of his life he was afflicted with the
stone and gout ; which, turning at length to a complication
of distempers, carried him off on the 7th of July, 1713, in
the eighty-first year of his age. His remains were interred
the fifteenth of the same month in the churchyard of
Fulham, according to his particular direction ; for he used
to say, that " the church is for the living, and the church-
yard for the dead." His works are, — 1. A Translation
from the Italian, of the Life of Donna Olympia Maldachini,
who governed the Church during the time of Innocent X.,
which was from the year 1644 to 1655, London, 1667.
2. A Translation from the French, of the Jesuits' In-
trigues, with the private Instructions of that Society to
their Emissaries, 1669. 3. A Treatise of the Holy Com-
munion, 1677. 4. A Letter to the Clergy of the Diocese
of London, concerning Baptism, the Lords Supper, Cate-
chizing, dated April 25, 1679. 5. A Second Letter con-
174 CONANT.
cerning the Half-Communion, Prayers in an Unknown
Tongue, Prayers to Saints, July 6, 1680. 6. A Third
Letter, on Confirmation, and Visitation of the Sick, 1682.
7. A Fourth Letter, upon the 54th Canon, April 6, 1683.
8. A Fifth Letter, upon the 118th Canon, March 19,
1684. 9. A Sixth Letter, upon the 13th Canon, April
18, 1685. — Anonymous Biography. Birch's Tillotson,
Lathbury on Convocation. State Trials.
CONANT, JOHN.
John Conant was born in 1608, at Yeatenton, in Devon-
shire, and educated at Exeter College, Oxford ; where he
was chosen fellow, and proceeded to the degree of D.D.
He was one of the assembly of divines ; in 1649 was cho-
sen rector of his college ; aud in 1654 professor of divinity.
He was vice-chancellor of the university at the period of
the Piestoration, and as such presented a congratulatory
address to Charles II. He was present at the Savoy Con-
ference on the side of the Presbyterians, and afterwards
became a nonconformist.
He continued in this state about eight years. A
Mr. Edmund Trench, who had been determined for the
ministry, and was very willing to have conformed, hut had
some scruples which he could not remove, sent his scru-
ples to Dr. Conant for his resolution. After half a year's
expectation the doctor sent him the following message :
" That upon the most serious thoughts he could hardly
satisfy himself ; and therefore would never persuade any
to conform while he lived." But, after eight years' deli-
beration upon the interesting subject of conformity,
Dr. Conant himself complied, and was re-ordained upon
the 28th of September, in 1670, by Dr. Reynolds, Bishop
of Norwich ; whose daughter he had married in August,
1651, and by whom he had six sons, and as many
daughters.
COOPER. 175
In 1670 he became minister of St. Mary Alderman-
bury, London, which he exchanged for that of All Saints,
Northampton, to which was added the Archdeaconry of
Norwich, and in 1681, a prebend of Worcester. He died in
1693. Six volumes of his sermons have been pubUshed.
— Reid. Wood.
CONCINA, DANIEL
Daniel Concina was born about 1686, in Friuli. He
entered the Dominican order in 1708, and preached with
great applause in the principal towns of Italy. He was
much consuked by Pope Benedict XIV. He died at
Venice on the 2 1st of February, 1756. His principal
works are :
1. Disciplina Apostolica Monastica, 1739, p. 4to.
2. Delia Storia del probabilismo e del rigorismo, disser-
tazioni, con la difesa, 4 vols, in 4to.
3. Commentarius in rescriptum Benedicti XIV. de
jejunii lege, in 4to.
4. Usus contractus trini dissertationibus hist, theolog.
demonstrata adversus mollioris ethices casuistas, in 4to.
5. Theologia Christiana dogmatico-moralis, 12 vols, in
4to.
6. De spectaculis theatralibus, in 4to.
7. De Sacramentali absolutione impertenda. — Moreri.
Biog. Universelle.
COOPER, OR COUPER, THOMAS.
Thomas Cooper was born about the year 1517, at
Oxford, and was educated at Magdalen College, of which
he was first- chosen demy, and afterwards probationer, and
in the year 1540, perpetual fellow. In 1546 he quitted
his fellowship ; and on the accession of Mary, as he was
inclined to the Reformation, he chose physic for his pro-
176 COOPER.
fession, and practised for some time in his native city ;
but on the accession of EHzabeth, he returned to the study
of divinity, and became a distinguished preacher. In the
year 1567 he took his doctor's degree, and about that time
was appointed to the deanery of Christ Church, and for
several years afterwards filled the office of vice-chancellor.
In 1569 he was made Dean of Gloucester; and in 1570
he was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln. The state of the
church of Lincoln, as described by Archbishop Parker, was
lamentable. There were, he says, only six prebendaries,
and some of them were puritans. In 1584 Cooper was
translated to Winchester. While he was Bishop of Win-
chester he wrote a paper entitled, " Cogitations conceived
for answer to those petitions w^hich were offered to my
lords of the upper house, by certain honourable and
worshipful of the lower house of parliament." The paper
is printed in Strype's Whitgift, but is not worth trans-
cribing here. Cooper was married, and was unfortunate
in his wife. He died in 1594. He wrote the Epitome of
Chronicles from the 17th year after Christ to 1540, and
thence afterwards to the year 1560, in 1560, 4to. The-
saurus Linguse Romanse et Britannicae, &c., et Diction-
arium Historicum et Poeticum, in 1565, folio; A Brief
Exposition of such chapters of the Old Testament as
usually are read in the Church at Common Prayer, on the
Sundays throughout the Year, in 1573, 4to; Twelve
Sermons, on different texts, 1580, 4to; An Admonition to
the People of England ; wherein are answered not only
the Slanderous Untruths reproachfully uttered by Martin
the Libeller, but also many other crimes by some of his
brood, objected generally against all Bishops, and the
chief of the clergy, &c., 1589, 4to. The last-mentioned
work was written in reply to a scurrilous puritanical pam-
phlet, published under the name of Martin Mar-Prelate ;
and provoked answers in two ludicrous pamphlets, entitled
Ha' ye any Work for a Cooper ? and more Work for a
Cooper. — Godwin. Wood. Strype.
CONYBEARE. 177
CONYBEARE, JOHN.
John Conybeare was born at Pinhoe, in Devonshire,
in 1692. He received his education at the grammar
school of Exeter, and next at the college of that name in
Oxford : where, in 1710, he obtained a fellowship. In
1716 he entered into orders, and the same year took his
degree of master of arts. In 1724 he was presented to
the rectory of St. Clement's, in Oxford ; and in 1727 he
obtained great celebrity by a visitation sermon on the
case of subscription. Conybeare's position in this ser-
mon is, that " every one who subscribes the articles of
religion, does thereby engage, not only not to dispute
or contradict them ; but his subscription amounts to an
approbation of, and an assent to, the truth of the doc-
trines therein contained, in the very sense in which
the compilers are supposed to have understood them."
Mr. Conybeare's next publication was an assize sermon,
preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, in 1727, from Ezra
vii. 26, and entitled The Penal sanctions of Laws con-
sidered.
In 1728 he took his degree of B.D. ; and the same
year that of doctor. In 1730 he was chosen rector of his
college ; and in 173^ published his Defence of Revealed
Religion against Tindal's Christianity as old as the Crea-
tion, or the Gospel a Republication of the Law of Nature.
Bishop War burton styles this " one of the best reasoned
books in the world." In this year he was appointed dean
of Christ Church, on which occasion he resigned his
headship. In 1750 he was consecrated Bishop of Bristol,
and would probably have been further advanced had he
not been cut off at Bath, by a complication of disorders,
July 13, 1755. His remains were interred in his cathe-
dral; and afterwards two volumes of his sermons were
published by subscription: but these did not include
twelve discourses, which he printed in his life time. —
Biog. Brit.
VOL. IV. s
178 COSIN.
CORDARA, JULIUS CA'lSATi,
Julius C.f:sAR Cordara was born in Alexandria de la
Paglia, in 17(J4. Being taken early to Home, he was ad-
mitted as a Jesuit in his fourteenth year. He was distin-
guished as a dramatic writer and a satirist, and for his
devotion to the exiled Iritewart family : but he is mentioned
here not as a satirist or play writer, but as the author
of a work which he published in 1750, entitled Historia
Societatis Jesu pars sexta complcctens res gestas sub
Mutio Vitellesco tomus prior. Ho had been appointed
historiographer of the Jesuits in 1742. This was followed
by his Caroli Odoardi Stuartu, Walliae principis, Expe-
ditio in Scotiam, Libris IV. comprehensa. On the disso-
lution of the order of the Jesuits, he retired in 1772 from
Home to Turin, whence, towards the close of his life, he
retired to his native place, where he died in 1790. —
BiorjrapJde Universclle.
COSIN, JOHN.
John Cosin was born at Norwich, November 30, 1594,
and having been educated at the free school in that city,
was entered at Caius College, Cambridge, in 1610, of
which college he became successively scholar and fellow.
When about twenty years of age he was appointed first
librarian, and afterwards secretary to Dr. Overall, Bishop
of Coventry and Lichfield. The title of the bishop of that
see was Coventry and Lichfield till the Restoration, when
the style was changed to Lichfield and Coventry. In 1619
Cosin lost his friend and patron Bishop Overall, but was
soon after appointed domestic chaplain to Dr. Neile, Bishop
of Durham. In those days Bishops regularly observed all
the offices of the Church, and had morning and evening
service duly performed in their chapels. A domestic chap-
lain was therefore necessary to a Bishop, and the office
was not a sinecure. In 1624 Mr. Cosin became a pre-
COSIN. 179
bendary of Durham, and arcLdeacon of the East Riding in
the Church of York. He was a conscientious man. He
could not become a prebendary without doing the duties
of his office ; he would have thought it sinful to attend
the services of the cathedral publicly while in private he
reviled the cathedral service ; to have been regular in his
attendance during his strict residence, but never to have
entered the church on a week-day when his strict residence
was at an end : to have received a full income from his
estates, and to have adorned his own house, leaving only
the house of God unadorned, and the clioir unsupported :
he felt that he was appointed to his prebend not only that
he might have time for study, but thfit he might regulate
the services of the Church so as to make them a model to
other sanctuaries, and to have them conducted with the
grandeur and ceremony which was befitting in such a
temple. He was what was not so rare in those times as
we may be apt to imagine, an honest prebendary or canon,
and consequently he was called a papist.
The maids of honour who attended the Queen Henrietta
Maria, being many of them piously disposed, wished to
employ themselves at their devotions when they saw their
royal mistress so occupied. The good King Charles found
them often reading Romish books of devotion. Instead of
reviling them for their devotional spirit, he more wisely
determined to provide them with a more Catholic manual
than that which they possessed, and employed Archdeacon
Cosin to draw up a collection of devotions. He completed
his work admirably, and in it provided for the observance
of all the canonical hours. The work has lately been
reprinted, and has had for its editor the Venerable Arch-
deacon Harrison, chaplain to the Archbishop of Canter-
bury. But Cosin lived in an age almost as uncharitable
as our own, and his book was both ignorantly and mali-
maliciously assailed ; and with puritanical levity, the
notorious William Prynne entitled it, " Cozen's Cozening
Devotions."
In 1628 Cosins took his deforce of D.D., and was
180 COSIN.
engaged with the other members of the chapter of
Durham, in prosecuting one of the prebendaries, a wicked
fanatic, Peter Sharp by name, for preaching a seditious
sermon in the cathedral. Sharp seems to have been
enraged with his brother prebendaries for endeavouring
to keep their oaths, while he wilfully neglected his own.
The text of his sermon was, Psalm xxxi. 7. I hate them
that hold of sujjerstitlous vanities. From which he took
occasion to make a most bitter invective against some of
the bishops, charging them with no less than popery and
idolatry. Among other virulent expressions he had these,
'* The Whore of Babylon's bastardly brood, doting upon
their mother's beauty, that painted harlot of the Church
of Rome, have laboured to restore her all her robes and
jewels again, especially her looking glass, the mass, in
which she may behold her bravery. The mass coming in,
brings with it an inundation of ceremonies, crosses, and
crucihxes, chalices and images, copes and candlesticks,
tapers and basons, and a thousand such trinkets, which
we have seen in this church, since the Communion table
was turned into an altar. I assure you the altar is an
idol, a damnable idol as it is used. I say they are whores
and whoremongers, they commit spiritual fornication, who
bow their bodies before that idol the altar, &c." For this
sermon he was questioned first at Durham, afterwards in
the high commission court at London ; from whence he
was removed, at his own desire, to that at York, where,
refusing with great scorn, to recant, he was, for his obsti-
nacy, degraded, and by sentence at common law, soon
after dispossessed of his prebend and livings : whereupon
he was supplied with £400 a year by subscription from
the puritan party, which was more than all his prefer-
ments amounted to. As for Dr. Cosin, he was so far from
being Mr. Smart's chief prosecutor (as he avers) that after
lie was questioned in the high commission at Durham, he
never meddled in the matter, save that once he wrote a
letter to the Archbishop of York and the commissioners
in his favour.
COSIN. 181
We almost seem in this description to have an account
of what is passing in our own times. And one cannot but
regret to find that the spirit of puritanism is so unchanged,
so indevout, so bitter, so regardless of truth.
Dr. Cosin was appointed master of Peter-house in
163 1, and dean of Peterborough in 1640. But his
troubles were now to begin, for the low church party had
nearly succeeded, as far as success in such a case is
possible, in ruining the church. On the 10th of Novem-
ber this year, Peter Smart, perceiving the time of revenge
to have come, sent a petition against him to the house of
commons, and in January following Dr. Cosin, having
been previously taken into custody by the sargeant-at-arms,
had the honour of being the first clergyman who by a vote
of the whole house was sequestered from his ecclesiastical
benefices. The low churchmen and dissenters were united
in the house, and were as eager to commence the persecu-
tion of true Christians as ever Bonner or Gardiner could
have been in the reign of Mary. On the 21st of March
they sent up to the House of Lords twenty-one articles of
impeachment against him.
They were carried up by one Mr. Rouse, who intro-
duced them with the following speech. " My lords, I am
commanded by the House of Commons, to present to your
lordships a declaration and impeachment against Dr. Co-
sin, and others, upon the complaint of Mr. Peter Smart ;
which Mr. Smart was a proto-martyr, or first confessor of
note in the late days of persecution. The whole matter is
a tree, whereof the branches and fruit are manifest in the
articles of this declaration." Then follow these articles
against Dr. Cosin.
1. That he was the the first man that caused the com-
munion table in the church of Durham to be removed
and set altar- ways, in the erection and beautifyiug
whereof, he (being then treasurer) expended two hundred
pounds.
2. That he used to officiate at the west side thereof,
turning his back to the people.
VOL IV. T
182 COSIN.
3. That he used extraordinary bowing to it.
4. That he compelled others to do it, using violence
to the persons of them that refused so to do : for instance,
once some omitting it, he comes out of his seat, down
to the seat where they sat, being gentlewomen, called
them whores, and jades, and pagans, and the like un-
seemly words, and rent some of their clothes.
5. That he converted divers prayers in the Book of
Common Prayer into hymns, to be sung in the choir,
and played with the organ, contrary to the ancient custom
of that church.
6. That whereas it had been formerly a custom in that
church, at the end of every sermon, to sing a psalm ; this
custom, when Dr. Cosin came thither, was abrogated, and
instead thereof they sung an anthem in the choir, there
being no psalm sung either at the minister's going up
into the pulpit, or at his coming down.
7. That the first Candlemas day at night, that he had
been in that church, he caused three hundred wax candles
to be set up and lighted in the church at once, in honour
of our lady, and placed three-score of them upon and
about the altar.
8. That in this church there were reliques of divers
images, above which were remaining the ruins of two
seraphims, with the picture of Christ between them,
erected in Queen Mary's time, in the time of popery ; all
which, when Queen Elizabeth came to the crown, were
demolished, by virtue of a commission by her to that
intent granted, which so continued demolished from that
time, till Dr. Cosin came to that church, who, being
treasurer, caused the same to be repaired, and most
gloriously painted.
9. That all the time he was unmarried he wore a cope
of white satin, never officiating in any other, it being
reserved solely for him, no man excepting himself making
use thereof, v»'hich, after marriage, he cast off, and never
after wore.
AG. That there was a knife belonging to the church.,
COSIN. 15<3
kept altogether in the vestry, being put to none but holy-
uses, as cutting the bread in the sacrament, and the
like ; Dr. Cosin refusing to cut the same with any other
but that, thinking all others that were unconsecrated
polluted ; but that, which he putting holiness in, never
termed but the consecrated knife.
11. That in a sermon preached in that church, he did
deliver certain words in disgrace of the reformers of our
Church, for instance, the words were these, " The refor-
mers of this Church, when they abolished the mass, took
away all good order, and, instead of a reformation, made
it a deformation."
1'2. That he seldom or never, in any of his sermons,
stiled the ministers of the word and sacraments by any
other name than priests, nor the communion table by any
other name than altar.
18. That by his appointment there was a cope bought,
the seller being a convicted Jesuit, and afterwards em-
ployed in that church, having upon it the invisible and
incomprehensible Trinity.
14. That whereas it had been formerly a custom in that
church, at five of the clock to have morning prayers read,
winter and summer : this custom, when Dr. Cosin came
thither, was abandoned ; and instead thereof was used
singing and playing on the organs, and some few prayers
read, and this was called first service ; which being ended,
the people departed out of the church, returning at nine
o'clock, and having then morning prayers read unto them,
and this was called second service ; which innovation
being raisliked and complained of by Mr. Justice Hutton,
was reformed.
15. That he framed a superstitious ceremony in light-
ing the tapers which were placed on the altars, which, for
instance, was this : a company of boys that belonged to
the church, came in at the choir door with torches in
their hands lighted, bowing towards the altar at their first
entrance, bowing thrice before they lighted the tapers :
having done, they withdrew themselves, bowing so oft as
184 COSIN.
before, not once turning their back parts towards the
altar, the organs all the time going.
16. That he counselled some young students of the
university to be imitators and practicers of his super-
stitious ceremonies, who, to ingratiate themselves in his
favour, did accordingly ; and being afterwards reproved
for the same by some of their friends, confessed that
Dr. Cosin first induced them to that practice, and encour-
aged them therein.
17. That he used upon communion days to make the
sign of the cross with his finger, both upon the seats
whereon they were to sit, and the cushions to kneel upon,
using some words when he so did.
18. That one Sabbath day there was set up an un-
necessary company of tapers and lights in the church,
which Dr. Hunt, being then dean, fearing they might
give offence, since they were then unnecessary, sent his
man to pull them dow^n, who did so ; but Dr. Cosin being
thereat aggrieved, came to the fellow, and there miscalled
him in a most uncivil manner, and began to beat him in
the public view of the congregation to the great disturb-
ance of the same.
19. That the dean and chapter of that church, whereof
Dr. Cosin was one, with many others, being invited to
dinner in the town of Durham, Dr. Cosin then and
there spake words derogating from the King's preroga-
tive : the words were these : " The King hath no more
power over the Church than the boy that rubs my horse-
heels."
20. That there being many of the canons of the said
church present at that time, amongst the rest there was
one took more notice of his words than the rest, and
acquainted one of his fellow-canons with them when he
came home. This canon, being a friend to Dr. Cosin,
told the doctor that such a man exclaimed of him, and
charged him with words that he should speak at such a
time ; the doctor presently sends for him, and when he
came into the house the doctor desires him to follow him
COSIN. 185
into an inner room, who did so ; but so soon as he came
in the doctor shuts the door, and sets both his hands upon
him, calHng him rogue and rascal, and many other names,
insomuch that the man, fearing he would do him a mis-
chief, cried out ; Mrs. Cosin coming in, endeavoured to
appease her husband, and holding his hands, the other
ran away.
'21. That the doctor did seek many unjust ways to
ensnare this man, that so he might take a just occasion to
put him out of his place ; but none of them taking effect,
he put him out by violence, having no other reason why
he did so, but because he had no good voice, when he had
served the place two years before Dr. Cosin came thither :
for instance of which unjust ways to ensnare this man,
Dr. Cosin hired a man and a woman to pretend a desire
of matrimony, and to offer a sum of money to this petty
canon to contract matrimony between them in a private
chamber, so thereupon to take advantage of his revenge
upon him. This plot being confessed by the parties
to be first laid by Dr. Cosin, and that they were his
instruments.
Besides the several particulars mentioned in these
articles, Mr. Fuller informs us that Dr. Cosin was accused
of having bought a cope with the Trinity, and God the
Father, in the figure of an old man ; another with a
crucifix, and the image of Christ, with a red beard, and
a blue cap. And to have made an anthem to be sung,
of the three Kings of Collen, by the names of Gasper,
Balthazar, and Melchior.
To these articles Dr. Cosin put in his answer upon
oath before the House of Lords. But seeing afterwards
the substance of them pubUshed in Mr. Fuller's Eccle-
siastical History, he wrote from Paris a letter to Mr. War-
ren and Dr. Reves, in bis own vindication, dated April 6,
1658, wherein he declares, as he had done before the
Lords,
1. That the communion table in the church of Durham
(which in the Bill of Complaint and Mr. Fuller's history
T U
186 COSIN.
is said to be the marble altar, with cherubims) was not
set up by him [Dr. Cosin,] but by the dean and chapter,
(whereof Mr. Smart himself was one) many years before
Mr. Cosin became prebendary of that church, or ever saw
the country.
'^. That by the public accounts which are there regis-
tered, it did not appear to have cost above the tenth part
of what is pretended, appurtenances and all.
3. That likewise the copes used in that church w^ere
brought in thither long before his [Dr. Cosin's] time, and
when Mr. Smart the complainant was prebendary there,
who also allowed his part (as he [Dr. Cosin] was ready to
prove by the Act book) of the money that they cost, for
they cost but little.
4. That as he never approved the picture of the Trinity,
or the image of God the Father, in the figure of an old
man, or otherwise to be made or placed any w^here at all ;
so he was well assured that there were none such (nor to
his own knowledge or hearsay ever had been) put upon
any cope that was used there. One there was that had
the story of the Passion embroidered upon it all, but the
cope that he used to wear, when at any time he attended
the communion service, was of plain white satin only
without any embroidery upon it at all.
5. That what the Bill of Complaint, called the image
of Christ, with a blue cap, and a golden beard, (Mr. Ful-
ler's history says it was red, and that it w'as set upon one
of the copes) was nothing else but the top of Bishop Hat-
field's tomb (set up in the church, under a side-arch
there, two hundred years before Dr. Cosin was born)
being a little portraiture, not appearing to be above ten
inches long, and hardly discernable to the eye what figure
it is, for it stands thirty feet from the ground.
6. That by the local statutes of that Church (whereunto
Mr. Smart was sworn, as w^ell as Dr. Cosin) the treasurer
was to give order, that provision should every year be
made of a sufficient number of wax lights for the service of
the choir, during all the winter time ; which statute he
COSIN. 187
[Dr. Cosin] observed when he wasrehosen into that office,
and had order from the dean and chapter, bj capitular
act, to do it ; jet upon the communion table they that
used to light the candles, never set more than two fair
candles, with a few small sizes near to them, which they
put there of purpose, that the people all about might have
the better use of them for singing the psalms, and read-
ing the lessons out of the Bibles : but two hundred was a
greater number than they used all the church over, either
upon Candlemas night, or any other.
7. That he never forbad (nor any body else that he knew)
the singing of the (metre) psalms in the church, w^iich
he used to sing daily there himself, with other company,
at morning prayer. But upon Sundays and holy-days, in
the choir, before the sermon, the creed was sung, (and
that plainly for every one to understand) as is appointed
in the communion book ; and after the sermon, was sung
a part of a psalm, or some other anthem taken out of the
Scripture, and first signified to the people where they
might find it.
8. That so far was he from making any anthem to be
sung of the three Kings of Collen, as that he made it,
when he first saw it, to be torn in pieces, and he himself
cut it out of the old song books belonging to the choristers'
school, with a penknife that lay by, at his very first
coming to that college. But he was sure that no such
anthem had been sung in the choir during all his time of
attendance there, nor (for ought that any of the eldest
persons of the church and town could tell, or ever heard
to the contrary,) for fifty or three- score years before, or
more .
9. That there was indeed an ordinary knife, provided
and laid ready among other things belonging to the
administration of the communion, for the cutting of the
bread, and divers other uses in the church vestry. But
that it was ever consecrated, or so called, otherwise than
as Mr. Smart, and some of his followers had, for their
pleasure, put that appellation upon it ; he [Dr. Cosin]
188 COSIN.
never heard, nor believed any body else had, that lived
at Durham. The rest of the articles mentioned above,
Mr. Smart could not prove, and Dr. Cosin gave a very
satisfactory answer to them, remaining upon the Rolls of
Parliament.
The whole of this statement has been given to confirm
what has been said before of the unchanged spirit of
puritanism. Dr. Cosin was dismissed by the Lords
upon his putting in bail for his appearance, but he was
not summoned to appear again. But the evil spirit of
puritanism is not easily laid. Upon amotion made in the
House of Commons that he had enticed a young scholar
to popery he was again committed to the sargeantat-arms,
to attend daily till the house should call him to a hearing.
The low churchmen and puritans both in the church and
out of it, knew very well that all this was a falsehood, and
that in fact he had when vice-chancellor of Cambridge
severely punished that very scholar by making him recant,
and by expelling him the university. But the end was
supposed to justify the means, and Dr. Cosin was com-
pelled to attend the house daily till the house should call
him to a hearing, which hearing he did not obtain till after
fiftydays' imprisonment, during which time he had to pay
twenty shillings a day. He was of course acquitted, but
received no reparation for the wrong done to him. It is
to be hoped that puritanism may not again obtain the
upper hand, and that the House of Commons may never
again interfere in the affairs of religion. An attempt is
not unfrequently made to do so, but the ignorance dis-
played by the leading members of the honourable house is
not very creditable to the country it represents.
As Cosin had the honour to be the first of the clergy
sequestered, so was he the first to be turned out. What
the puritans could not do by law they effected by force ;
he was ejected from his mastership in 1642, having
exasperated the puritans and their friends, by sending
the plate of the university to the King at York. Being
deprived of all his preferments, he left the kingdom
COSIN. 189
and proceeded to Paris, where he formed a congregation,
and had several discussions with the Jesuits and Romish
priests.
At the restoration of Charles II., Dr. Cosin returned to
England, and took possession of all his preferments ; but
before the year was out, was raised to the see of Durham,
being consecrated upon the 2nd of December, 1660. As
soon as he could get down to his diocese, he set about
reforming many abuses, that had crept in there during
the late anarchy ; and distinguished himself greatly by his
charity and public spirit. He laid out a great share of
his large revenues in repairing or re-building the several
edifices belonging to the bishopric of Durham, which had
eitlier been demolished, or neglected, during the civil
wars. He repaired, for instance, the castle at Bishop "s
Auckland, the chief country seat of the Bishops of Dur-
ham; that at Durham, which he greatly enlarged ; and the
bishop's house at Darlington, then very ruinous. He also
enriched his new chapel at Auckland, and that at Durham,
with several pieces of gilt plate, books, and other costly
ornaments; the charge of all which buildings, repairs, and
ornaments, amounted, according to Dr. Smith, to near
sixteen thousand pounds ; but as others say, to no less
than twenty-six thousand pounds. He likewise built and
endowed two hospitals ; the one at Durham for eight poor
people, the other at Auckland for four. The annual revenue
of the former was seventy pounds, that of the latter thirty
pounds : and near his hospital at Durham, he re-built the
school-houses, which cost about three hundred pounds.
He also built a library near the castle of Durham, the
charge whereof, with the pictures with which he adorned
it, amounted to eight hundred pounds ; and gave books
thereto to the value of two thousand pounds, as also an
annual pension of twenty marks for ever to a librarian.
But his generosity in this way was not confined within
the precincts of his diocese. He re-built the east end of
the chapel at Peter-house, in Cambridge, which cost three
hundred and twenty pounds; and gave books to the library
190 COSIN.
of that college to tbe value of one thousand pounds. He
founded eight scholarships in the same university ; viz :
five in Peter-house of ten pounds a year each, and three in
Caius College of twenty nobles a piece per annum : both
which, together with a provision of eight pounds yearly,
to the common chest of those two colleges respectively,
amounted to two thousand five hundred pounds.
It is indeed impossible to recount all the numerous
benefactions of this generous Bishop. He gave to the
cathedral at Durham a fair carved lectern, and litany-desk,
with a large scalloped silver patten, gilt, for the use of the
communicants there, which cost forty-five pounds. Upon
the new building of the Bishop's court, exchequer, and
chancery, and towards the erecting of two session- houses
at Durham, he gave a thousand pounds. Moreover, he
gave towards the redemption of Christian captives, at
Algiers, five hundred pounds. Towards the relief of the
distressed loyal party in England, eight hundred pounds.
For repairing the banks in Howdenshire, a hundred
marks. Towards the repair of St. Paul's cathedral, in
London, fifty pounds. By his will he bequeathed to the
poor of his hospitals at Durham and Auckland, to be dis-
tributed at his funeral, six pounds. To the poor people
of the country, coming to his funeral, twenty pounds.
To poor prisoners detained for debt, in the gaols of
Durham, York, Peterborough, Cambridge, and Norwich,
fifty pounds. To the poor people within the precints of
the cathedral at Norwich, and within the parish of
St. Andrew's there, in which he was born and educated in
his minority, twenty pounds. To the poor of Durham,
Auckland, Darlington, Stockton, Gateshead, and Bran-
speth, (all in the bishopric of Durham), thirty pounds.
To the poor in the parishes of Chester in the Street,
Houghton-le-Spring, North-Allerton, Creike, and Howden,
(all lordships belonging to the Bishops of Durham) forty
pounds. Towards the re-building of St. Pauls cathedral
in London, when it should be raised five yards from the
ground, a hundred pounds. To the cathedral of Norwich,
COSIN. 101
whereof the one half to be bestowed on a marble tablet,
with an inscription, in memory of Dr. John Overall, some
time Bishop there, (whose chaplain he had been) the rest
for providing some useful ornaments for the altar, forty
pounds. Towards the re-edifying of the north and south
sides of the College chapel at Peter-house, in Cambridge,
suitable to the east and w^est ends, already by him per-
fected, two hundred pounds. Towards the new building
of the chapel at Emanuel College, in Cambridge, fifty
pounds. To the children of Mr. John Heyward, late
prebendary of Lichfield, as a testimony of his gratitude
to their deceased father, who, in his lordship's younger
years, placed him with his uncle, Bishop Overall, twenty
pounds a piece. To the dean and chapter of Peter-
borough, to be employed for the use of the poor in that
town, a hundred pounds. To the poor of Durham, Bran-
speth, and Bishop's Auckland, to be distributed as his two
daughters (the lady Gerard, and the lady Burton) should
think best, a hundred pounds.
This great and good man died in 1672. Besides the
benefactions alluded to above, his will is remarkable as
containing his profession of faith ; wherein, after repeat-
ing the substance of the Apostles' and Nicene creeds, he
condemns and rejects whatsoever heresies or schisms, the
ancient catholic and universal Church of Christ with an
unanimous consent, had rejected and condemned ; to-
gether with all the modern fautors of the same heresies ;
sectaries, and fanatics, who, being carried on with an
evil spirit, do falsely give out, they are inspired of God.
As the anabaptists, new independents, and presbyterians
of our country, a kind of men hurried away with the
spirit of malice, disobedience, and sedition. " Moreover,
(adds he) I do profess, with holy asseveration, and from
my very heart, that I am now, and ever have been from
my youth, altogether free mid averse from the corruptions
and impertinent new-fangled, or papistical superstitions
and doctrines, — long since introduced, contrary to the
Holy Scripture, and the rules and customs of the ancient
192 COSIN.
Fathers. But in what part of the world soever any
Churches are extant, bearing the name of Christ, and pro-
fessing the true catholic faith and religion, worshipping
and calling upon God the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost, with one heart and voice, if I be now hindered
actually to join with them, either by distance of countries,
or variance amongst men, or by any hindrance what-
soever ; yet always in my mind and affection I join and
unite wdth them ; which I desire to be chiefly understood
by protestants, and the best Reformed Churches, &c."
This part of his Will was written in Latin, and the latter
part containing his benefactions, in English.
How accurately he understood the points of difference
between the Church of England and the Church of Rome,
may be seen from the following paper, published by
Dr. Hickes in the Appendix to his "Letters." "We that
profess the catholic faith and religion in the Church of
England do not agree with the Roman Catholics in any
thiug w^hereunto they now endeavour to convert us. But
we totally dissent from them (as they do from the ancient
catholic Church) in these points.
J . That the Church of Rome is the mother and mistress
of all the other churches in the world.
2. That the Pope of Rome is the vicar-general of Christ :
or that he hath an universal jurisdiction over all Chris-
tians that shall be saved.
3. That either the Synod of Trent was a general council ;
or that all the canons thereof are to be received as matters
of catholic faith, under pain of damnation.
4. That Christ hath instituted seven true and proper
Sacraments in the New Testament, neither more nor less,
all conferring grace, and all necessary to salvation.
5. That the priests offer up our Saviour in the mass, as
a real, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the quick and
the dead, and that whosoever believes it not, is eternally
damned.
6. That in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the whole
substance of bread is converted into the substance of
COSIN. 195
Clirist's Body, and the whole substance of wine into His
Blood, so truly and properly, as that after consecration
there is neither any bread nor wine remaining there, which
they call transubstantiation, and impose upon all persons,
under pain of damnation to be believed.
7. That the Communion under one kind is sufficient
and lawful (notwithstanding the institution of Christ
under both), and that whosoever believes or holds other-
wise is damned.
8. That there is a purgatory after this life, wherein the
souls of the dead are punished, and from whence they are
fetched out by the prayers and offerings of the living : and
that there is no salvation possibly to be had by any that
will not believe as much.
9. That all the old saints departed, and all those dead
men and women, whom the pope hath of late canonized
for saints, or shall hereafter do so, whosoever they be,
are and ought to be invocated by the religious prayers
and devotion of all persons, and that they who do not
believe this as an article of the catholic faith cannot be
saved.
10. That the relics of all these true or reputed saints
ought to be religiously worshipped ; and that whosoever
holdeth the contrary is damned.
11. That the images of Christ and the blessed Virgin,
and of the other saints, ought not only to be had and
retained, but likewise to be honoured and worshipped,
according to the use and practices of the Roman
Church ; and that this is to be believed as of necessity
to salvation.
1'-^, That the power and use of indulgences, as they are
now practised in the Church of Rome, both for the living
and the dead, is to be received and held of all, under pain
of eternal perdition.
13. That all the ceremonies used by the Roman Church
in the administration of the Sacrament (such as are spittle
and salt in baptism ; the five crosses upon the altars, and
VOL. IV. u
194 COSIN.
Sacrament of the Eucharist ; the holding of that Sacra-
ment over the priest's head to be adored ; the exposing of
it in their churches to be worshipped by the people ; the
circumgcstation and carrying of it abroad in procession
upon their Corpus Christi day, and to their sick for the
same ; the oil and chrism in confirmation ; the anointing
of the ears, the eyes and noses, the hands and reins of
those that are ready to die ; the giving of an empty
chalice and paten to them that are to be ordained priests,
and many others of this nature, now in use with them)
are of necessity to salvation, to be approved and admitted
by all other Churches.
14. That all the ecclesiastical observations and consti-
tutions of the same church (such as are their laws of for-
bidding all priests to marry ; the appointing several orders
of monks, friars, and nuns in the church ; the service of
God in an unknown tongue ; the saying of a number of
Ave Marias by tale upon their chaplets ; the sprinkling
of themselves and the dead bodies with holy water, as
operative and effectual to the remission of venial sins ;
the distinctions of meats to be held for true fasting ;
the religious consecration and incensing of images ; the
baptizing of bells ; the dedicating of divers holidays
for the immaculate Conception, and the bodily Assump-
tion of the blessed Virgin; and for Corpus Christi, or
transubstantiation of the Sacrament ; the making of the
apocryphal books to be as canonical as any of the rest of
the holy and undoubted Scriptures ; the keeping of those
Scriptures from the free use and reading of the people ;
the approving of their own Latin translation only, and
divers other matters of the like nature) are to be approved,
held, and believed as needful to salvation, and that, who- •
ever approves them not, is out of the catholic Church,
and must be damned.
All which in their several respects, we hold some to be
pernicious, some unnecessary, many false, and many fond,
and none of them to be imposed upon any church, or any
COSIN. 195
Christian, as the Roman catholics do upon all Christians,
and all churches whatsoever, for matters needful to be
approved for eternal salvation.
OUR AGREEMENTS.
If the Roman Catholics would make the essence of
their Church (as we do ours) to consist in these following
points, we are at accord with them. In the reception and
believing of :
1. All the two and twenty canonical books of the Old
Testament, and the twenty-seven of the New, as the only
foundation and perfect rule of our faith.
2. All the apostolical and ancient creeds, especially
those which are commonly called the Apostles' Creed, the
Nicene Creed, and the Creed of St. Athanasius, all which
are clearly deduced out of the Scriptures.
3. All the decrees of faith and doctrines set forth, as
well in the first four general councils, as in all other
councils, which those first four approved and confirmed,
and in the fifth and sixth general councils besides (than
which we find no more to be general), and in all the
following councils that be thereunto agreeable ; and in all
the anathemas or condemnations given out by those
councils against heretics, for the defence of the Catholic
faith.
4. The unanimous and general consent of the ancient
catholic Fathers, and the universal Church of Christ, in
the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, and the col-
lection of all necessary matters of faith from them during
the first six hundred years, and downwards to our own
days.
5. In acknowledgment of the Bishop of Rome, if he
would rule and be ruled by the ancient canons of the
Church, to be the patriarch of the West, by right of
ecclesiastical and imperial constitution, in such places
where the kings and governors of those places had
196 COSIK
received him, and found it behooveful for them to make
use of his jurisdiction, without any necessary dependence
upon him by divine right.
6. In the reception and use of the two blessed Sacra-
ments by our Saviour ; in the confirmation of those
persons that are to be strengthened in their Christian
faith, by prayer and imposition of hands, according to the
examples of the holy Apostles and ancient Bishops of the
catholic Church ; in the public and solemn benediction
of persons, that are to be joined together in haly matri-
mony ; in public or private absolution of penitent sinners;
in the consecrating of Bishops, and the ordaining of
priests and deacons for the service of God in His Church,
by a lawful succession ; and in visiting the sick, by pray-
ing for them, and administering the blessed Sacrament to
them, together with a final absolution of them from their
repented sins.
7. In commemorating at the Eucharist the sacrifice of
Christ's Body and Blood, once truly offered for us.
8. In acknowledging His sacramental, spiritual, true and
Keal Presence there to the souls of all them that come
faithfully and devoutly to receive Him, according to His
own institution in that holy Sacrament.
9. In giving thanks to God for them, that are departed
out of this life in the true faith of Christ's catholic
Church, and in praying to God that they may have a
joyful resurrection, and a perfect consummation of bliss,
both in their bodies and souls, in His eternal Kingdom of
Glory.
10. In the historical and moderate use of painted and
true stories, either for memory or ornament, where there
is no danger to have them abused or worshipped with
religious honour.
11. In the use of indulgences, or abating the rigour
of the canons, imposed upon offenders according to
their repentance, and their want of ability to undergo
them.
COSIN. 197
12. In the administration of the two Sacraments, and
other rites of the Church, with ceremonies of decency and
order, according to the precept of the Apostle, and the
free practice of the ancient Christians.
13. In observing such hoHdays and times of fasting,
as were in use in the first ages of the Church, or after-
wards received upon just grounds, by public and lawful
authority.
14. Finally, in the reception of all ecclesiastical consti-
tutions and canons made for the ordering of our Church ;
or others, which are not repugnant either to the Word of
God ; or the power of kings, or the laws established by
right authority in any nation.
Besides the collection of Private Devotions, he pub-
lished " A Scholastical History of the Canon of the
Holy Scripture : or. The certain and indubitable Books
thereof, as they are received in the Church of England."
Loudon, 1657, 4to, reprinted in 1672. The history
is deduced from the time of the Jewish Church, to the
year 1546, that is, the time when the council of Trent
corrupted, and made unwarrantable additions to, the
ancient canon of the Holy Scriptures. Consequently
it was directed against the papists, and was written by
the author during his exile at Paris. He dedicated it to
Dr. M. Wrenn, Bishop of Ely, then a prisoner in the
tower. Dr. P. Gunning had the care of the edition.
Since the Bishop s decease the following books and tracts
of his have been published.
1. "A letter to Dr. Collins, concerning the Sabbath,"
dated from Peter-house, Jan. 24, 1635. In which, speak-
ing first of the morality of the Sabbath, he afiBrms,
that the keeping of that particular day was not moral,
neither by nature binding all men, nor by precept bind-
ing any other men but the Jews, nor them further than
Christ's time. But then, adds he, whether one day
of seven, at least, do not still remain immutably to be
kept by us Christians, that have God's will and ex-
u2
198 COSIN.
ample before, and by yirtue of the rules of reason and
religion, is the question ? And for this he decides in the
affirmative. Then he proves, that the keeping of our
Sunday is immutable, as being grounded upon divine
institution, and apostolical tradition, which he confirms
by several instances. Next he shews, that the schoolmen
were the first who began to dispute, or deny, this day to
be of apostolical institution, on purpose to set up the
pope's power, to whom, they said, it belongeth, either to
change or abrogate the day. Towards the end, he lay©
down these three positions against the puritans : 1. " The
observation of the Sunday in every week is not commanded
us by the fourth commandment, as they say it is. 2. Nor
is our Sunday to be observed according to the rule of the
fourth commandment, as they say it is. 3. Nor hath it
the qualities and conditions of the Sabbath annexed to it,
as they say it hath." 2. There is published, " A Letter
from Cosin to Mr. Cordel, dated Paris, Feb. 7, 1650."
It is printed at the end of a pamphlet, entitled, " The
Judgment of the Church of England, in the case of lay-
baptism, and of dissenters' baptism." 3. Kegni Anglia?
Eeligio Catholica, prisca, casta, defoecata : omnibus Chris-
tianis Monarchis, Principibus, Ordinibus, ostensa. anno
1652., i.e. A Short Scheme of the ancient and pure
doctrine and discipline of the Church of England ; written
at the request of Sir Edward Hyde, afterwards Earl of
Clarendon. 4. Historia Transubstantationis Papalis. Cui
praemittitur, atque opponitur, turn S. Scripturas, turn
Veterum Patrum, & Pieformatarum Ecclesiarurn Doctrina
Catholica, de Sacris Symbolis, & praesentia Christi in
Sacramento Eucharistse, i. e. The History of Popish Tran-
substantiation, &c., written by the author at Paris, for the
use of some of his countrymen, who were frequently
attacked upon that point by the Papists. It was pub-
lished by Dr. Durell, at London, 1675, 8vo, and translated
into English in 1676, by Luke de Beaulieu, 8vo. There
is a second part still in manuscript. 5. "The differences
COTELERIUS. 199
in the chief points of religion, between the Roman Catholics
and us of the Church of England; together with the agree-
ments which ^Ye, for our parts, profess, and are ready to
embrace, if thej, for theirs, were as ready to accord with
us in the same. Writteu to the Countess of Peterborough."
6. " Notes on the Book of Common Prayer." Published
by Dr. William Nicholls, at the end of his Comment on
the Book of Common Prayer, Lond. 1710, folio. 7. "Ac-
count of a Conference in Paris, between Cyril, Archbishop
of Trapezond, and Dr John Cosin." Printed in the same
book.
The following pieces were also written by Bishop
Cosin, but never printed. 1. " An Answer to a Popish
Pamphlet, pretending, that St. Cyprian was a Papist."
2. "An Answer to four queries of a Roman Catholic, about
the Protestant Religion." 3. "An Answer to a paper
delivered by a Popish Bishop to the Lord Inchequin."
4. " Annales Ecclesiastici, imperfect." 5. "x\n Answer to
Father Robinsons Papers, concerning the validity of the
Ordinations of the Church of England." 6. " Historia
Conciliorum, imperfect." 7. " Against the forsakers of the
Church of England, and their seducers in this time of her
trial." 8. Chronologia Sacra, imperfect. 9. "A Treatise
concerning the abuse of Auricular Confession in the
Church of Rome."
His whole works have been collected for the first time
in the Anglo-Catholic Library. — Smith. Basire. Hickes.
Hutchinson s History of Durham. Fuller. Walker.
COTELERIUS, JOHN BAPTIST.
John Baptist Cotelerius, a learned Frenchman, was
born at Nismes, in 1627. He very early displayed great
abilities in the knowledge of the learned languages, and at
the age of twelve was able to construe the New Testament
in Greek, and the Old in Hebrew, with great ease. In
1647 he took his B.D. degree. In 1649 he was elected a
fellow of the Sorbonne. The Greek fathers were his chief
200 COTELERIUS.
study : he read their works both printed and manuscript
with great exactness ; made notes upon them ; and trans-
lated some of them into Latin. In the year 1660, he
published four Homilies of St. Chrysostom upon the
psalms, and his Commentary upon Daniel, with a Latin
translation and notes. Then he set about his Collection
of those fathers who lived in the apostolic age ; which he
published in two volumes folio at Paris, in the year 1672,
all reviewed and corrected from several manuscripts, with a
Latin translation and notes. The editor's notes in this
performance are very learned, and very curious : they
explain the difficulties in the Greek terms, clear up
several historical passages, and set matters of belief and
discipline in a better light. He had published this work
some years sooner, but he was interrupted by being
pitched upon with Monsieur Du Cange to review the
manuscripts in the King's library. This task he entered
upon by Colbert's order in 1667, and was five years in
performing it.
In the year 1 676, he was made Greek professor in the
Royal Academy at Paris, which post he maintained during
his life with the highest reputation. He had the year
before published the first volume of a work, entitled
Monumenta Ecclesias Grsecse, which was a collection of
Greek tracts out of the King's, and Monsieur Colbert's
libraries, and had never been published before. He
added a Latin translation and notes ; which, though not
so large as those upon the Patres Apostolici, are said to
be very curious. The first volume was printed in the
year 1675, the second in 1681, and the third in 1686.
He intended to have continued this work if he had lived.
Upon the third of August, 1686, he was seized with an
inflammatory disorder in his breast, which required him
to be let blood : but Cotelerius had such a dislike to this
operation, that, sooner than undergo it, he dissembled his
illness, when, at last he consented, it was too late, for he
died upon the 10th of the same month, when he was not
sixty years of age. — Moreri. Baluzius.
COURAYER. 201
COURATEB, PETER FRANCIS.
Peter Francis Courayer was born at Rouen, in Nor-
mandy, where his father was president of the Court of
Justice, November 17, 1681 ; received his first scientific
instruction at Vernon ; came in his 1 4th year to the
College of Beauvais at Paris ; and in the same place
entered two years later the congregation of St. Genevieve.
There he honourably distinguished himself by his talents
and scientific efforts, so that in 1706 he was appointed
presbyter of his congregation, and also professor of theo-
logy. After he had performed the duties of this office up
to August, 1711, the oversight of the rich library of the
abbey was given into his hands.
While canon and librarian of the Augustinian abbey of
St. Genevieve, he projected his great work, A Dissertation
on the Validity of the Ordinations of the English, and of
the Succession of the Bishops of the Anglican Church.
The origin of this work is as follows : having been engaged
in reading Abbe Renaudot's " Memoire sur la validite des
Ordinations des Anglois," inserted in Abbe Gould s " La
veritable croyance de I'eglise Catholique," he was induced
to enter into a farther examination of that subject. Ac-
cordingly he drew up a memoir upon it, for his own satis-
faction only, but which grew insensibly into a treatise :
and at the instance of some friends to whom it was com-
municated, he was at length prevailed with to consent to
its publication. He therefore made the usual application
for permission to print it ; and obtained the approbation
of Mons. Arnaudin, the royal licenser of the press. Some
persons, however, afterwards found means to prevail on
the chancellor to refuse to affix the seal to the approbation
of the licenser. Terms were proposed to Father Courayer,
to which he could not accede, and he gave up all thoughts
of pubhshing. Some of his friends, however, being in
possession of a copy, resolved to print it : and this obliged
him to acquiesce in the publication. When he first wrote
his treatise, all his materials were taken from printed
202 COURAYER.
authorities, and he had no acquaintance or correspondence
in England. But sundry difficulties, which occurred to
him in the course of his inquiries, suggested to him the
propriety of writing to England, in order to obtain clearer
information on some points ; and knowing that a corres-
pondence had been carried on between Dr. Wake, then
Archbishop of Canterbury, and Dr. Dupin, on the project
of re-uniting the Churches of England and France, he
took the liberty, in 1721, although entirely unknown to
that prelate, to desire his information respectiug some
particulars. The Archbishop answered his inquiries with
great readiness, candour, and politeness, and many letters
passed between them on this occasion. Father Courayer's
book was at length published in 1723, in two volumes
small 8vo.
The intention of Courayer in this work is thus described
by himself in his preface, and what he designed he ably
accomplished. " In order," he says, " to treat this subject
with some method, I shall first set forth the chauges that
have happened in the Church of England with regard to
the succession of their Bishops, and their ordination. I
shall shew afterwards that notwithstanding the changes
introduced by Edward the Sixth in the Ordinal, there
was nothing essential omitted in the consecration of
Parker, who is the origin and source of the English
ministry, such as it subsists at this day. In the chapters
that follow, I shall prove the truth of Barlow's consecra-
tion, upon which that of Parker depends ; and I shall
endeavour to refute all the arguments which are brought
against it. In fine, in discussing some general difficulties
which are made use of to attack the validity of the new
ordinations, I shall endeavour to lay down principles and
maxims which may serve not only to establish the good-
ness of the English ordinations, but also to the decision
of other facts that might happen of the same kind. I
shall moreover examine with some care, what authority a
national Church may challenge in what concerns the
administration of the Sacraments : and 1 hope to make it
COURAYER. 203
evident, that the Church of England has not exceeded her
powers in those alterations she thought it right to make
in her rites. By the examination of all these facts, and
of these principles, it will be easy to decide what ought to
be thought of the practice of many Bishops, who re-ordain
the English ; and I think men will be easily convinced
by the proofs we have produced, that this custom is con-
trary to all the received maxims of the Church in the
matter of re-ordinations, and that it is founded only upon
chimerical facts, upon opinions that are abandoned, and
and upon doubts that have no foundation."
The value of this work is very great. It is to be
remembered that it was written by a Romanist, not with
a view of defending the Church of England, but with the
design of establishing a position for the practice of his
own communion. The question which Courayer discussed
professedly, was this, whether clergymen of the Church
of England conforming to the Church of Rome should be
re-ordained, and whether in the event of the Church of
England forming an alliance with the Church of Rome,
the validity of her orders should be recognized. This
double question Courayer answered in the affirmative.
On other points, such as the justifiableness of our reform-
ation, and our keeping ourselves separate from Rome,
he takes part against us. The one point to which he
addresses himself, however, is so ably argued, that the very
fact of his disagreeing with us on the other points makes
his arguments of greater weight. And the defence of the
Church of England, on points whereupon he ventures to
censure her is easy. There is no one point on which
Romish controversialists have more frequently resorted to
evil speaking, lying and slandering, than upon that which
relates to our orders, and it is not wonderful that their
conduct should have disgusted an honest mind like that
of Courayer.
Courayer's work was translated into English by the
Rev. Daniel Williams, and published at London in one
volume 8vo, under the title : "A Defence of the vahdity
204 COURAYER.
of the English Ordinations, and of the Succession of the
Bishops in the Church of England : together with proofs
justifying the facts advanced in this treatise." Father
Courayer's work was immediately attacked by several
popish wTiters, particularly by father le Quien and father
Hardouin. Rutin 1726 he published, in four volumes
12mo, " Defense de la Dissertation sur la validite des
Ordinations des Anglois, centre les differentes responses
qui y ont ete faites. Avec les preuves justificatives des
faits avencez dans cet ouvrage. Par lAuteur de la Dis-
sertation." An English translation of this also was after-
wards published at London, in two volumes 8vo, under
the following title : " A Defence of the Dissertation on
the validity of the Enghsh Ordinations," &c.
But father Courayer was not only attacked by those
writers who published books against him : he was like-
wise censured both by the mandates, and by the assem-
blies of several bishops, and particularly by Cardinal De
Noailles, x\rchbishop of Paris, and the Bishop of Mar-
seilles. During this time he retired from Paris into the
country, but was recalled by his superior to reside at the
priory of Hennemonte, four leagues from Paris. Here he
received a diploma for the degree of doctor in divinity
from the university of Oxford, dated August 28, 1727 :
and from hence he returned his thanks to the university
in an elegant Latin letter, dated Dec. 1, the same year,
both of which he afterwards printed. But though this
book had procured this honourable testimonial of his merit
from an English university, his enemies in Fiance were not
satisfied with publishing censures and issuing episcopal
mandates against him, but proceeded to measures for
compelling him to recant what he had written, and to
sign such submissions as were inconsistent with the
dictates of his conscience. In this critical state of things,
he resolved to quit his native country, and to seek an
asylum in England. He was the more inclined to
embrace this resolution, in consequence of the warm and
friendly invitations which he had received from Arch-
COURAYER. 205
bishop Wake, who had conceived a great regard for him.
After having spent four months very disagreeably at
Hennemonte, he obtained leave to remove to Senlis ; but,
instead of going thither, he took the road to Calais in
the common stage coach, from thence got safely over to
Dover, and arrived in London on the Qith of January,
1728.
On his landing at Greenwich Viscount Perceval, after-
wards Earl of Egmont, sent his coach with six horses to
convey him to his house, which he desired the doctor to
consider, and to use, as his own : after dinner his lord-
ship made him a handsome present. Next day Dr. Wake,
then Archbishop of Canterbury, had him to dine at his
palace at Lambeth, and made him a like present. Bishop
Hare, Bishop Sherlock, and several other prelates, treated
him with similar generosity ; and soon after his arrival,
the Marquis of Blandford made him a present of fifty
pounds, through the hands of Nicholas Mann, Esq., after-
wards master of the Charter-house.
It is pleasing to be able to say with certainty, to the
honour of this nation, that very many of the tables and
houses of the great were generously opened for the recep-
tion of P. Courayer, from the first moment of his arrival
in England. He secured his future constant welcome by
his own merits, and an instructive, entertaining, and in-
offensive manner of conversation.
He got early into the habit of living, for months toge-
ther, in one or other of the first families in this kingdom ;
and at the diiferent habitations of the Countess of Hert-
ford, afterwards Duchess of Somerset, it was not unusual
for him to make visits of six months at a time.
He did not, however, continue very long a precarious
pensioner on the bounty of our nobility, prelates, and
gentry, who were not deficient in their generosity and
attention to him. A national pension of £1 00 per annum
was settled upon him. In 173G this pension was doubled
by Queen Caroline, who, vviih ail her faults, was a uiuuifi-
VOL IV X
206 COURAYER.
cent patroness of men of letters, and of indigent merit
To her he dedicated his French translation of "Father
Paul's History of the council of Trent, '" published in that
year ; and his dedication is penned in a strain of lively
and heartfelt gratitude.
By the sale of the translation just mentioned he cleared,
it is said, £1500, and was enabled to give £1000 to Lord
Feversham for an annuity of £100, which he enjoyed for
almost forty years.
P. Courayer, after his coming into this country, was
never in want of anything that was necessary for him,
or that could contribute to the comfort of his life, which
he protracted to the very advanced age of ninety-five years.
By degrees, and in no great length of time, he got into
very affluent circumstances, and was in the receipt of very
much more money yearly than his frugal mode of living
required.
He wrote some other books in French, besides those
that have been mentioned ; and, in particular, he tran-
slated into that language Sleidan's " History of the Refor-
mation." He died in Downing- Street, Westminster, after
two days illness, on the 17th of October, 1776. Accord-
ing to his own desire, he was buried in the cloister
of Westminster Abbey, by Dr. Bell, chaplain to the
Princess Amelia. In his will, which was dated Feb. 3,
1774, he declared, " That he died a member of the catholic
Church, but without approving of many of the opinions
and superstitions which have been introduced into the
Romish Church, and taught in their schools and semina-
ries, and which they have insisted on as articles of faith,
though to him they appeared to be not only not founded
in truth, but also to be highly improbable.'"
Such was the life, and such, so far as appeared to the
public during his life, were the doctrinal views of Courayer:
it is melancholy to be obliged to add, that it subsequently
came to light, by means of two posthumous works, that
towards the close, at least, of the long period of his earthly
COVEL. 207
existence, he had fallen into unsound views even on the
fundamental doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation.
As to the former, he acquiesced indeed in the language
of the Church, of the Three Persons in one Substance, but
attempting to explain this language otherwise than in the
received waj-, he fell apparently into a kind of modified
Sabellianism, or, to say the least, into a very near approxi-
mation to such a view. As regards the doctrine of the
Incarnation, he appears to have adopted a kind of Nesto-
rian idea. It must be observed, how^ever, that he seems
to have thought that he agreed in substance with the
catholic and orthodox doctrine, and differed only from the
*' common" or received way of expJaining it ; and that he
defended the maintainers of orthodoxy from the charges
made by the Socinians against them.
On the doctrine, too, of original sin, his views were very
unsound.
With respect, too, to the Atonement, there is in both
these treatises a silence v.iiich, particularly when taken in
connection with the Pelagian views just mentioned, is by
no means satisfactory. He defends, however, the doctrine
of a commemorative Sacrifice in the Eucharist.
When his posthumous works were published, Socinian-
ism was prevalent in this country, and Socinians laid
claim to Courayer, but from the above statement taken
from the preface to the Oxford Edition of the Dissertation,
and compared with the quotation from his will, the reader
will perceive that whatever were Courayer's errors, to the
soul-destroying heresy of the Socinians he was decidedly
opposed. — Courayer's Dissertation, Oxford Edition. Allge-
meine Encyclopadie. Courayer s Last Sentiments, uith Ac-
count of Author prefixed.
COVEL, JOHN.
John Covel was born at Horningsheath, in Suffolk, in
1638, and educated at Edmundsbury, from whence he
removed, in 1654, to Christ's College, Cambridge, of
208 COVEL.
which he became fellow. In 1670 he went to Constan-
tinople as chaplain to the embassy. This appointment
occasioned the publication of the work by which his name
is now known, Some Account of the Present Greek Church,
though the publication was delayed till a short time before
his death. In the preface he remarks "that many learned
men all over Europe have been very inquisitive, especially
in these last two centuries, about the constitutions and
doctrines of the Eastern Churches, especially that of the
Greeks ; and we have had several treatises and narratives
printed upon that subject. At last arose that famous
controversy between those two eminent Frenchmen, Mon-
sieur Arnold, doctor of the Sorbonne, and Monsieur Claud,
minister of Charenton, about the Real Presence in the
Eucharist. The first positively asserting, that the Greeks
and all other Christians in the east did own it in the
very sense of the school term, transubstantiation, accord-
ing to the council of Trent, and that it was handed
down to them, by an uninterrupted tradition even from
the Apostles themselves ; the second, as positively deny-
ing it.
" All Greeks who travelled or straggled this way amongst
the Europeans were every where nicely catechised and
examined about this point ; and I remember that about
the year 1668, 1669, there was one 'ir^Epta? n^/xavo?,
Jeremias Germanus here in England, at Oxford (well
known to Dr. Woodroof) and elsewhere, who told every
body that the Greeks believed no such thing, but that
they owned the elements to remain after consecration, as
our Church doth, still mere and true bread and wine.
" In the year 1670 I was appointed and sent as chaplain
to his excellency Sir Daniel Harvey, then Ambassador
from King Charles the Second at the Ottoman Porte ;
this caused the Reverend Dr. Gunning and Dr. Pearson
(then our two public professors at Cambridge) Dr. San-
croft, Dr. Womock, and several others to importune me
strictly to enquire into this matter after I arrived at
Constantinople."
COVERDALE. 209
The work is very learned, and is on that account in-
teresting, but it does not throw much Hght upon the then
existing Greek Church, and might have been written for
the most part bj one who had never been at Constanti-
nople. He. complains of the extreme ignorance of the
" Easterlings," as he calls them, though he says they were
not more ignorant than the generality of Romish priests ;
the Romanists understanding no Greek, and the Easter-
lings no Latin. Of the doctrine of transubstantiation, be
says that it was not introduced into the Greek Church till
after the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, that is,
till after the year 1453. In 1679, he took his degree of
D.D., and was chosen Margaret preacher of divinity. The
next year he was presented to the living of Littlebury, in
Essex, and in 1687 was made chancellor of York, and the
next year master of Christ College, Cambridge. He died
in 17'2'2. — Covets Greek Church. Blog. Brit.
COVERDALE, MILES.
Miles Coverdale was born in Yorkshire, in the year
1488, and was educated in the convent of Augustines in
Cambridge, of which order he became a monk. In his
time, although our Church was corrupted by the errors of
popery, there were some young men at the university, who
had begun to suspect that a reformation was necessary,
and of this number was Miles Coverdale.
In 1514 he was ordained priest at Norwich, by John,
Bishop of Chalcedon. But he appears to have resided
still at Cambridge, where the new school of theology
continued to gain strength. Between the reforming and
the Romish prelates in our Church disputes now became
frequent, and the peace of the university was disturbed by
preachers coming up from the country to protest against
the Reformation ; while the advocates of the old doctrines
by these university preachers represented as new, took
x2
210 COVERDALE.
courage to defend themselves, till at last Dr. Barnes was
apprehended, and the Heads of Houses caused a diligent
search to be made for the prohibited books, — the books
relating to the necessity of a reform in the Church, and
especially the Bible.
Coverdale now took a more decided part ; he laid aside
the habit of a monk, and assuming that of a secular
priest, he went about preaching at different places, till at
last he thought it prudent to quit the country. In 1528
he joined Tyndal in Germany, who, in 1526, had published
the whole of the New Testament in English. It was printed
at Antwerp, and from thence imported into England.
There were several ancient translations in England, for it
is a mistake to suppose that before the Reformation no
translations were allowed. Long before Wickliff's trans-
lation, some hundred years, as Thomas James conjectures,
there was a translation of the whole Bible in English, of
which there are three copies at Oxford. And John
Thursby, Archbishop of York, who died in 1373, publicly
condemned the prelates and clergy who then began to
withhold the Scriptures from the people. There was a
translation of the Old and New Testament, by John
Trevisa, vicar of Berkley, in Cornwall, which was pub-
lished, according to Archbishop Usher, in 1360, and
according to Mr. Wharton, in 1387. In 1347 Richard
Fitzralph, commonly called Armachanus, as being Arch-
bishop of Armagh, translated the Bible into Irish. These
facts are worthy of note, for they seem to contradict the
popular notion, that by our Church before the Reforma-
tion, all versions of Scripture were prohibited. That about
the time of our Reformation the ignorant but more popular
party in the church had much fear of a translation of the
Bible, and that the majority of the bishops sided with the
popular preachers upon this point, is most true. They
were afraid lest the traditions by which they made the
word of God of none effect, should be by fresh light ex-
p'v)sed, not only to others, but to themselves. But the law
COVERDALE. Qll
as it existed, while it acknowledged all the translations
which had been made before the time of .Wickliff to be
lawful, prohibited any fresh translation without authority.
Tyndal therefore could not print his New Testament in
England.
Coverdale met Tyndal at Hamburgh, and assisted him
in the translation of part of the Old Testament, that is, of
the whole of the Pentateuch.
What became of Coverdale till the year 1535 is not
known, but in that year he published his translation of
the whole Bible. It was printed at Zurich.
The reforming party in England had by this time pro-
ceeded to very great excesses, especially in their calum-
nies against the bishops. The bishops, as the controlling
authorities, though influenced in the long run by a move-
ment, are called upon by every motive to pause before
they act. The bishops of our church at this time seem
to have acted with wisdom and caution. They saw that
something must be done to meet the general demand for
a version of Scripture, and Archbishop Wacham in letters
testimonial, declared it to be the intention of the King to
have the New Testament translated under the direction of
the bishops. He met the popular cry at the same time of
the clergy, and prohibited the various tracts of the new
school, which they pronounced to be heretical.
The progress of the new opinions may be traced in the
fact, that it was decreed by the convocation of the pro-
vince of Canterbury, in 1533, that the Holy Scriptures
should be translated into the vulgar tongue ; a decree
which was repeated in the convocation of 1534 ; at the
same time all persons having books of suspected doctrine
in the vulgar tongue were required to bring them in.
It was under these circumstances that Coverdale w^as
emboldened, in 1535, to publish his translation of the
Bible in small folio. It is disgraced by a dedication tilled
with the most disgusting flattery of the royal sensualist,
King Henry the Eighth, and by a violent attack upon
the Romish party in the church, which could only have
21S COVERDALE.
made the minds of the more bigoted Romanists revolt
against the new doctrines of which such was the fruit.
One is surprised that a man, fresh from the translation
of the Bible, should have evinced in his flattery and in
his anathema such a spirit.
It is a matter of dispute whether this Bible was cir-
culated with the King's sanction. It is supposed that for
a time the object of Coverdale's flattery approved of it, but
that when Ann BuUeyn fell into disgrace, and the royal
reformer had transferred his affections to another, all her
adherents, and all that she supported, became no longer
tolerable to the King.
In 1537 was published what is called Matthew's Bible,
though this was a fictitious name. It was set forth by
" the King's most gracious leave;" and was taken, as far
as it would go, as Mr. I^ewis says, from Tyndal's transla-
tion and Coverdale's.
The prologue and prefatory pieces attached to this
Bible gave offence ; and we find Coverdale superintend-
ing a new edition undertaken by Grafton at Paris.
The presses being seized by the Inquisition, this
edition was finished and published in London, in April,
1539. It is often called Cranmer's Bible, because some
copies have Cranmer's prologue in them ; but it seems
doubtful whether, in such cases, the prologue is not that
of the real Cranmer's Bible of 1540, bound up in the
edition of 1539.
On the accession of Edward VI., Coverdale, who seems
never to have been ambitious of martyrdom, and who had
lived in Germany, returned to England, when he was
made almoner to the Queen Dowager. In 1548 he
preached at St. Paul's Cross, when an anabaptist did
penance. He sat on the commission in 1551, under
which Van Paris was burnt for Arianism : and in the
same year he was appointed coadjutor to Veysey, Bishop
of Exeter, or in fact superseded him ; Veysey, who had so
far entered into the spirit of the courtly reformers, as to
have squandered the temporalities of his see, while he did
COVERDALE. 213
not embrace the purer doctrines of the more religious
reformers, was induced, for fear of exposure probably, to
resign. As bishop, Coverdale seems to have conducted
himself with great propriety of conduct, to have preached
often, and to have neglected none of the duties of his
station.
When Queen Mary came to the throne he was deprived
of his bishopric, because he was a married man, and un-
willing to part from his wife. As a monk he must have
taken the vow of celibacy, and therefore his marriage was
a scandal. In the new reign the Romish party in our
church regained the ascendency, and the marriage of
the clergy was, in their opinion, under any circumstances
censurable, though the New Testament is so very clear
in asserting that estate to be honourable among them, as
well as among other men. Whether Coverdale was placed
under constraint does not appear, but he certainly signed
the protestation of certain imprisoned divines. By the
interference of the King of Denmark, he was permitted to
retire to that country. After staying some time in Den-
mark he proceeded to Wezel, where he officiated to the
English refugees. The interest of the King of Denmark
was exerted in his favour through his chaplain. Dr. John
Machaboeus. Machaboeus and Coverdale had married
sisters. From Wezel he went to Bergzabern, a benefice
conferred upon him by Wcelfgang, Duke of Deux Fonts.
Thence he went to Geneva, when the Geneva Bible was
in the course of printing.
On the death of Mary he returned to England, entirely
won over to the ultra-pro testant views of the Genevan
reformers, a complete calvinist. But he appears to have
been a man of gentle spirit notwithstanding the violence
of temper he displayed in the dedication of his Bible,
and perhaps was easily influenced to a certain point by
those with whom he associated. We thus find him
officiating at the consecration of Dr. Parker, who was the
successor of cardinal Pole in the see of Canterbury, but
refusing to wear the episcopal dress.
214 COVERDALE.
The ceremonial on this occasion was of a grand descrip-
tion, and is thus described by Strype : " First of all, the
chapel on the east part was adorned with tapestry, and
the floor was spread with red cloth, and the table used for
the celebration of the holy Sacrament, being adorned
with a carpet and cushion, was placed at the east. More-
over, four chairs were set to the south of the east part of
the chapel for the bishops, to whom the office of conse-
crating the Archbishop was committed. There was also
a bench placed before the chairs, spread with a carpet and
cushions, on which the bishops kneeled. And in like
manner a chair, and a bench furnished with a carpet and
a cushion, was set for the Archbishop on the north side of
the east part of the same chapel.
" These things being thus in their order prepared,
about five or six in the morning, the Archbishop entereth
the chapel by the west door, having on a long scarlet
gown and a hood, with four torches carried before him,
and accompanied with four bishops, who were to conse-
crate him ; to wit, William Barlow, John Scory, Miles
Coverdale, and John Hodgkin, suffragan of Bedford.
After each of them in their order had taken their seats
prepared for them, morning prayer was said with a loud
voice by Andrew Pierson, the Archbishop's chaplain.
Which being finished, Scory went up into the pulpit, and
taking for his text. The elders which- are among you I
beseech, being also a fellow elder, dc, made an elegant
sermoD, admonishing the pastor of his office, care, and
faithfulness towards his flock ; and the flock, of the love,
duty, and reverence they owed to their pastor.
" Sermon being done, the Archbishop, together with the
other four bishops, go out of the chapel to prepare them-
selves for the holy communion : and, without any stay,
they come in again at the north door thus clad : the
Archbishop had on a linen surplice, the elect of Chi-
chester used a silk cope, being to administer the Sacra-
ment. On whom attended and yielded their service the
Archbishop's two chaplains, Nicolas Bullingham and
COVERDALE. 215
Edmund Gest, the one Archdeacon of Lincoln, and the
other of Canterbury, having on hkewise silk copes. The
elect of Hereford and the suffragan of Bedford wore
linen surplices : but Miles Coverdale had nothing but a
long clotli gown. Being in this manner appareled and
prepared, they proceed to celebrate the communion, the
Archbishop beiug on his bended knees at the lowest step
of the chapel. The Gospel being ended, the elect of
Hereford, the suffragan of Bedford, and Miles Coverdale,
brought the Archbishop before the elect of Chichester,
sitting in a chair at the table, with these words ; Eeverend
Father in God, we ojfer and present to you this godly and
learned man to he consecrated Archbishop. This being
spoken, forthwith was produced the royal instrument or
mandate for the Archbishop's consecration : which being
read through by Thomas Yale, doctor of laws, the oath
of the Queen's primacy, or of defending her supreme
authority, set forth and promulgated according to the
statute in the first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
was required of the said Archbishop.^ Which when he
solemnly had performed verbis concejjtis, the elect of
Chichester having exhorted the people to prayer, betook
himself to sing the litany, the choir answering. Which
being ended, after some questions propounded to the
Archbishop by the elect of Chichester, and the makiog
some prayers and suffrages to God, according to the form
of the book put forth by authority of Parliament, the
elects of Chichester and Hereford, the suffragan of Bed-
ford, and Coverdale, laying their hand upon the Arch-
bishop, said in English, 'Take the Holy Ghost; and
remember that thou stir up the grace of God which is in
thee by imposition of hands. For God hath not given us
the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and soberness.'
These words being said, they delivered the holy Bible into
his hands, using these words to him ; ' Give heed unto
thy reading, exhortation, and doctrine. Think upon
these things contained in this book; be diligent in them,
that the increase coming thereby may be manifest unto all
216 COVERDALE.
men. Take heed unto thyself, and unto thy teaching,
and be dihgent in doing them. For in doing this, thou
Bhalt save thyself, and them that hear thee, through Jesus
Christ our Lord.' After they had said these things, the
elect of Chichester (delivering no pastoral staff to the
Archbishop) proceeded to the other solemnities of the
communion ; with whom the Archbishop, and the other
bishops before named, did communicate, together with
some others : when the Archbishop desired the prayers
of them all, that the office now laid upon him by the
hands of the presbytery might above all tend to the glory
of God, and salvation of the Christian flock, and the joyful
testimony of his own conscience from his office faithfully
performed, when it should happen that he should go to
the Lord, to whom he had devoted himself.
" These things being finished and performed, the Arch-
bishop goeth out through the north door of the east part
of the chapel, accompanied with those four that had con-
secrated him: and presently, being attended with the
same bishops, returned by the same door, wearing an
episcopal white garment, and a chime re of black silk :
and about his neck he had a rich tippet of sable. In like
manner the elects of Chichester and Hereford had on
their episcopal garments, surplice, and chimere : but
Coverdale and the suffragan of Bedford wore only their
long gowns. The Archbishop then going forward toward
the west door, gave to Thomas Doyle, his steward, John
Baker, his treasurer, and John March, his comptroller,
to each of them white staves ; admitting them after this
manner into their places and offices. These things there-
fore thus performed in their order, as is already said, the
Archbishop goeth out of the chapel by the west door, the
gentlemen of his family of the better sort in blood going
before him, and the rest following behind. All and sin-
gular these things w^ere acted and done in the presence of
the reverend fathers in Christ, Edmund Grindal, elect
Bishop of London ; Richard Cocks, elect of Ely ; Edwin
Sandes, elect of Wigorn ; Anthony Huse, Esq., principal
COVERDALE. 2lT
and primary Register of the said Archbishop ; Thomas
Argal, Esq., Register of the Prerogative of the court of
Canterbury ; Thomas Willet and John Incent, Public
Notaries, and some others."
As Coverdale would not himself conform to the rules of
the Church, he could not be restored to his bishopric.
He could not be expected to enforce the orders which he
neglected himself. The non-conformists were in general
so intolerant and violent in their proceedings, that he
would naturally be regarded with suspicion for a time,
and he had no right to expect preferment in the church.
Nevertheless the chief ecclesiastics regarded him with
sympathy and affection. Archbishop Grindal, himself a
puritan at heart, though he conformed, endeavoured to
obtain for him a Welsh bishopric, probably because his
irregularities would not be observed in that distant
diocese ; and when he failed he presented him with the
rectory of St. Magnus, London Bridge. His poverty was
such as to induce the Queen to remit the payment of the
first fruits, amounting to £60. Here he preached for
about two years, but he resigned the living in 1566, pro-
bably because a stricter conformity was at that time
required than he was willing to concede. He died in
February, 1569, at the age of eighty-one, and on the 19th
of that month was buried in St. Bartholomew's church,
behind the Exchange.
The following is given by the Parker Society as the list
of his works : —
1. The Old Faith ; an evident probation that the
Christian Faith hath endured since the beginning of the
world. (Translation from H. Bullinger.) 1547.
2. A Spiritual and most Precious Pearl. A translation
from Otho Wermullerus. 1550.
3. Treatise on Justification. From the same.
4. The Book of Death. From the same.
5. The Hope of the Faithful. From the same.
6. Fruitful Lessons upon the Passion, Death, Resur-
VOL. IV. Y
218 COVERDALE.
rection, and Ascension of our Saviour, and the giving of
the Holy Ghost. 1540—47.
7. Abridgment of Erasmus's Enchiridion.
8. A Confutation of that Treatise which one John
Standish made against the Protestation of Dr. Barnes in
the year 1540.
9. Christian State of Matrimony.
10. Faithful and true Prognostication on the years
1536—48—49.
1 1 . Translation of Luther's Exposition of the Twenty-
third Psalm. 1537.
12. How and whither a Christian ought to flee the
horrible plague of the Pestilence. Translated from Osian-
der. 1537.
13. Acts of the Disputation in the Council of the
Empire holden at Ptavenspurg, set forth by Bucer and
Melancthon. Translated by M. C.
14. (1) The Christian Ptule and state of all the world.
(2) A Christian Exhortation unto customable Swearers.
(3) The Manner of saying Grace or giving Thanks to
God.
15. Defence of a certain poor Christian man, who else
should have been condemned by the Pope's law. Trans-
lated from the German.
16. Ghostly Psalms and Spiritual Songs drawn out of
the Holy Scripture.
17. (1) Exposition of the Magnificat. (2) The Original
and Spring of all Sects.
18. (1) A Christian Catechism. (2) Cantus usuales
Witeburgensium. (3) The Apology of the Germans against
the Council of Mantua.
19. A faithful and most godly Treatise concerning
the most sacred Sacrament of the Body and Blood of
our Lord Jesus Christ, translated from Calvin ; where-
unto the order that the Church and Congregation of
Christ in Denmark doth use at the receiving of Baptism,
the Supper of the Lord, and Wedlock, is added.
COURTNEY. 219
20. The Supplication that the Nobles and Commons
of Osterick made unto King Ferdinand. Translated
by M. C.
21. The Testimony and Report, which Eccius gave and
sent in to the Council of those Princes, which name them-
selves Catholic. 15-12.
x\uthorities, — Strijpe. Johnson on English Translations
oj tlie Bible. Memorials of Coverdale, published by Bagster.
COURTNEY, WILLIAM.
William Courtney was the fourth son of Hugh
Courtney, Earl of Devonshire, by Margaret, daughter of
Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex, by his
wife Elizabeth, daughter of Edward I. He was born in
the year 1341, and was educated at Oxford, where he
applied himself to the study of the civil and the canon
law, at that time studied by the clergy, as we learn from
Dante, more than the gospels. A man of talent, and of
his high birth, was sure to be speedily preferred, and in
that age, when the reformation of the Church of Eng-
land, indeed of the universal church, was so much needed,
we are not surprised at finding him possessing prebends
at Bath, and at Exeter, and at York. In 1369, during
the reign of Edward III., he was consecrated to the see of
Hereford, and from thence, in his 34th year, was trans-
lated to the see of London. In 1376 the Bishop of Lon-
don opposed the grant of a subsidy to the King on the
ground of his having received some injuries from the great
William of Wykeham, for which he desired to have
redress before the subsidy was made. The King could
only obtain a subsidy by holding out hopes, never realiz-
ed, of acceding to the Bishop of London's proposal. He
was a decided papist, and as such took low views of the
episcopate. In his zeal for the papacy he violated the
laws of the land by publishing a bull of Pope Gregory II.
without the King's consent.
230 COURTNEY.
His conduct appears to have been very bad ; the affair
was this : Pope Gregory II. had lately excommunicated
the Florentines, and had dispatched his bulls every
where, ordering their effects to be seized. The Bishop
of London, without consulting the King, published the
pope's bull at Paul's Cross, and gave the populace license
to plunder the houses of such Florentines as were in the
city. The lord-mayor hereupon, restraining the violence
of the people, placed a seal on the doors of the Floren-
tines, and conducted them to the King, who took them
into his protection. Afterwards, by order of the King,
the Bishop of Exeter, lord high chancellor, summoned
the Bishop of London into the Court of Chancery, to
answer for having dared to publish the pope's bull, with-
out consent of the King and council, and contrary to the
laws of the land. Courtney pleaded the pope's authority
and command. But the chancellor gave sentence, that
he should either forfeit his temporalities, or revoke his
words with his own mouth. With some difficulty the
Bishop of London obtained that he might re-call them by
one of his officers ; and accordingly an official mounted
Paul's Cross, and addressed the people in these words :
My lord said nothing about the interdict ; it is strange
that you should misunderstand, who hear so many
sermons from this place.
Such was our Church in the middle ages, and as such
the moral sense of mankind demanded its reformation.
A reforming party appeared at Oxford, under the leading
of the celebrated Dr. Wicklitf. Although Romanism
formed no part of the religion of the Church of England
at that time, most of her divines were Romanists, and
though contrary to law, the popes exercised great authority
and influence in our church; just as at a later period,
our divines became calvinistic, more or less, though Cal-
vinism is no part of our church : the vehemence of the
great body of the clergy against Wickliff was great.
Wickliff was cited to appear before the Bishop of
London's tribunal, in St Paul's Church, in 1377. He
COURTNEY. V 221
attended, accompanied by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancas-
ter, and by the Lord Marshal Percy, who told him to
keep up his spirits, for the bishops were but ignoramuses
compared to him ; the Duke and Lord Marshal being of
course fit judges on such a point. The crowd around the
court was great, anxious to obtain a view of the Oxford
heretic. Even the proud Percy could with difficulty
obtain an entrance. The Bishop of London was justly
annoyed at the disturbance occasioned by the sudden
appearance of these nobles, and at seeing Dr. WicklifF so
attended. Upon this a dispute happened between his lord-
ship and these two peers. Lord Percy, said the bishop, if
I had known before hand what masteries you would have
kept, I would have stopt you from coming hither : upon
which the Duke of Lancaster, John of Gaunt, replied, he
shall keep such masteries, though you say nay. Soon
after Lord Percy rudely and impertinently addressed
AVickliff desiring him to sit down, saying, you have many
things to answer for, and therefore need a soft seat ; — the
bishop upon this very justly remarked, that it was not
reasonable that a person cited before his ordinary should
sit down during his answers, when the Duke of Lancaster
insolently said in open court, " The Lord Percy's motion
for Wickliff is but reasonable. And as for you, my lord
bishop, who are grown so proud and arrogant, 1 will bring
down the pride not of you only, but of all the prelacy of
England. Thou bearest thyself so; brag upon thy parents
which shall not be able to protect thee ; they shall have
enough to do to help themselves." The bishop with great
dignity and composure replied : "My confidence is not in
my parents, nor in any other man, but in God only
in whom I trust, by whose assistance I will be bold to
speak the truth." The insolent duke was abashed, but
enraged, he said, not openly in court, but so as to be
heard by those around him, " Piather than take these
words at a bishop's hands, I'll pluck him by the hair of
his head out of the church." Though the words were
2^2-2 COURTNEY.
uttered so as not to be heard by the bishop, they did not
escape some of the Londoners who were near him, who
declared aloud, that leather than see their bishop thus
insulted they would die. Amid this scandalous inter-
ference with an episcopal court little business was done.
Wickliff was silenced, and for a time it appears that,
grateful for the mild measures adopted towards him, lie
gave no fui'ther annoyance.
Meantime the Duke and the Lord Marshal Percy,
enraged against the Londoners, went to the house of par-
liament, and brought in a bill to put down the office of
lord-mayor, and to place the city under military control.
The Londoners, enraged, assaulted and plundered the
houses of the Duke and Lord Percy, and would have pro-
ceeded to extremities against them had it not been for the
generous interference of the bishop. We are told that the
Bishop of London, hearing of the tumult, left his dinner,
and going hastily to the Savoy, desired the people to
desist, and to consider that it was the holy time of Lent,
assuring them that care should be taken of the rights and
privileges of the city. He succeeded ; the Duke's palace
was spared, and the mob was contented with hanging
up the Duke's arms reversed in the principal streets of
the city.
Godwin tells us that, in 1378, Courtney was made a
cardinal; but he speaks without authority. He certainly
was chancellor in the year 1381, and was in the same year
translated to the see of Canterbury, vacant by the murder
of Dr. Sudbury. He was elected by the chapter of Can-
terbury, and by a curious coincidence Pope Urban had
fixed upon the same person. But before the arrival of
the pope's bull, he had done homage for the temporalities,
he had repaired to Lambeth, where one of their chapter
was sent to him by the prior and convent of Canterbury
with the archiepiscopal cross or crosier. As bishop he
had a right to the pastoral staff, — the crosier being pecu-
liar to an archbishop. The monk addressed the arch-
COURTNEY. 223
bishop seated in his chapel thus : " Reverend Father, I
am the messenger of the supreme King, who entreats,
commands, and enjoins that you take upon you the
government of his church, and that you love and pro-
tect it, in token of which message, I deliver into your
hand the banner of the supreme King." It would seem
that the prior and convent were anxious to exercise their
right of election without reference to the see of Rome ;
but Courtney was unwilling to act thus independently, so
completely was he under the Rouiish influence. Not
having received the pall, he was doubtful whether the
cross should be carried bef re him, that is, whether he
might assume the archiepiscopal dignity, and in that
capacity crown the young Queen, who had lately arrived
in England, as consort of King Richard II. The monks
of Canterbury could easily prove that this deference to a
foreign bishop had not been always paid by his predeces-
sors ; but before the archbishop would act he published a
protest that he did not do so in any contempt of the court
of Rome. We are naturally sorry to find one of the arch-
bishops of the Church of England, thus forgetful of the
independent authority of every member of the episcopate ;
but perhaps at the present time persons in a situation
similar to that of Courtney, would bow down before a worse
authority, that is, the authority of };arliament.
He received the pall on the 0th of May, 1382; and in
this year held a synod in London, assisted by seven
bishops and several doctors and bachelors in theology, and
in canon and civil law. Ten propositions of Wickliff were
ileclared heretical ; viz : First, that in the sacrament of
the altar, the substances of the bread and wine remain
after consecration. Second, that the accidents cannot
remain after the consecration without the substance.
Third, that Jesus Christ is not actually and really in his
proper corporeal presence in the Eucharist. Fourth, that
no priest or bishop in mortal sin may ordain, or conse-
crate, or baptize. Fifth, that outward confession is not
necessary to those who duly repent. Sixth, that no pas-
'2-24: COURTNEY,
sage can be adduced from the gospels showing that our
Lord instituted the mass. Seventh, that God must obey
the devil. Eighth, that if the pope be an impostor, or a
wicked man, and consequently a member of the devil, he
hath no power over the faithful, except such as he may
have received from the Emperor. Ninth, that after the
death of the preseut pope, Urban VI., no pope ought to
be recoginzecl, but people should live, like the Greeks,
according to their own laws. Tenth, that it is contrary to
Holy Scripture for ecclesiastical persons to hold temporal
possessions.
The council declared fourteen other propositions erro-
neous, and the Archbishop obtained of the King authority
to arrest and imprison all persons teaching and maintain-
ing their opinions. The King's letter is dated July 12.
The Archbishop issued his mandate in 1383 for the
observance of the festival of St. Ann, the supposed mother
of the Virgin Mary. Although, as we have seeo, he yielded
his rights to the pope, he was careful in other respects to
maiutain the authority of the clergy. In 1387 he sum-
moned his suffragans and lower clergy to London, and at
the opening of the convocation preached on the following
text, Supra muros Jerusalem constitui custodes. A sub-
sidy was granted to the King, or rather to the government
which had been consigned by the King to eleven commis-
sioners, the Archbishop of Canterbury being one. And
perceiving that several noblemen would be tried for their
lives, and that causes of blood would be brought into the
parliament, and that the canons barred those of his order
from being present at them, the Archbishop entered his
protest for the saving the privilege of the lords spiritual,
and left the house.
The purport of the protest is to set forth that the lords
spiritual, by virtue of their baronies, and as peers of the
realm, had a right to sit, debate, vote and give judgment
with the rest of the peers, in all cases and matters trans-
acted in parliament. But since impeachments of high
treason, and trials fur life were coming on, tliey v/ere for-
COURTNEY. 005
bidden by the canons of the church to concern themselves
in matters of that nature ; making a protest that for this
only reason, they were obliged to withdraw. And thus,
having guarded the entireness of their peerage, they con-
cluded with declaring, that nothing done in their absence
upon this occasion should be hereafter questioned or
opposed by any of their body.
This instrument, at the instance and petition of the
Archbishop and his suffragans, was read in full par-
liament, and entered upon the parliament rolls by the
King's command, with the assent of the temporal lords
and commons.
The Bishops of Durham and Carlisle, in the province of
York, entered the same protest.
In the year loOl he published his constitutions
against CJwpjje- Chapels. The following is the certificatory
of Dr. Braybrook, Bishop of London, in answer to the
Archbishop, containing a copy of his mandate.
To the most Reverend Father and Lord in Christ, the
Lord William, by the grace of God Archbishop of Canter-
bury, primate of A. E., legate of the apostolical see, Robert
by divine permission Bishop of London, obedience and
reverence, with the honour due to so great a father. We
received your most reverend mandate according to the
tenour underwritten.
" William by divine permission Archbishop of Canter-
bury, primate of A. E., legate of the apostolical see, to our
venerable brother Robert, by the grace of God Bishop of
London, health and brotherly charity in the Lord. We
are bitterly grieved, when any of the flock under our trust
provokes the Most High by his villanies, and strikes
himself with a damuabk sentence, and rashly throws him-
self into destruction. But humane laws and canonical
statutes, do among other things abhor covetousness, which
is idolatry, and damned simoniacal ambition. But (alas !)
some men's minds now a days, are so darkened and
smitten with outward things, as never to look inward to
themselves, or to Him that is invisible, while they are
226 COURTNEY.
puft up with temporal honours, still desiriDg more, slight-
ing the ways of God. Some traffic for the gifts of the
Holy Spirit, while they pay or make simoniacal contracts
for churches and ecclesiastical benefices, forgetting the
words of Peter to Simon, Thy money perish tvith thee, because,
dc. Others of these tare-sowers, perverters of right, inven-
tors of mischief, commonly called Choppe- Churches, defraud
some by an unequal change of benefices through their
wicked intriguing and execrable thirst of gain ; and
sometimes wholly deprive others of the benefices they have
through false colours ; insomuch, that being reduced from
an opulent to a poor condition, and not being able to dig,
they die of grief, or else are compelled to beg through
extreme poverty, to the scandal of the Church and clergy.
Others, though they who serve at the altar should live by
the altar, &c., according to the Apostle, procure persons to
be presented to churches with cure and ecclesiastical
benefices, by importunity and money ; and to be instituted
therein, after having first wickedly sworn, that so long as
they have those benefices they will claim no profits from
them, nor any way dispose of them, but leave them to
their direction and profit, [who procured them] under pre-
tence of an exchange, or purely at their request. By
which means (whereas one church ought to belong to one
priest, and no one ought to have several dignities or
parish churches) one man, insufficient for one cure though
a small one, sweeps to himself by a trick the profits of
many benefices, which if equally distributed, would abun-
dantly sufiice for many learned and very reputable men
who very much want it ; divine worship and hospitality is
neglected; the indevotion of the people toward the Church
and them who belong to it is increased, and the cure of
souls is not minded. Such carnal men despise spiritual
precepts, and affect temporal riches in contempt of eternal
rewards. But it were to be wished, that for their own
amendment, they would be afraid of punishment, by con-
sidering how the Redeemer of Mankind cast the chapmen
out of the temple, saying. Make not my Father s house a
COURTNEY. 22T
house of merchandize. Our Lord never dealt so severely
with any offenders, to demonstrate that other sinners
ought to be reprehended, but these to be driven far from
the church. Farther, some raptors rather than rectors of
churches, shepherds, who know not and take no care of
their flocks, provoke the divine indignation, neglecting
hospitality without cause, shamefully spending their time
at London, devouring Christ's patrimony, living daintily
on the bread of the hungry, clothing themselves with the
garments of the naked, and with the ransom of captives :
they dare not say with the prophet, The Lord is the
portion of my inheritance ; but rather, We desire not the
knowledge of Thy ways. Whereas, therefore, the cure
of souls is our chief concern, of which we are to give a
strict account ; and resolving not any longer to connive at
so great a scandal of the clergy of the Church of England,
and so perilous and pernicious an example, at the impor-
tunate request of many we give it in charge, and command
you my brother in virtue of obedience, and do will and
command that the rest of my suffragans and fellow-bishops
of our province of Canterbury, be enjoined by you to take
corporal oaths of all whatsoever, that are to be presented
to ecclesiastical benefices, now or hereafter to be void
within your dioceses, that they have not given or promised
directly or indirectly, by themselves, or by any employed
by them for the presentation, to the presenter or any other
persons whatsoever ; and that neither they nor their friends
are obliged by oath or any pecuniary security, to resign or
make exchange of the benefices ; and that no unlawful
compact hath been made in this respect, nor promise with
their will or knowledge : and that in case of exchauge no
proxies, though signed by notaries, be allowed, without
the presence of the principals, and a provident examination
of the equality as to the value of the benefices, and an
oath given by each party that no fraud private or public is
used in the exchange : and that the noo-residents in your
dioceses be effectually called home to do their duty; and
the simoniacal possessors, or rather usurpers of churches
ns COURTNEY.
be severely censured ; and that the accursed partakers
with Gehazi and Simon, the Chop2Je- Churches, who chiefly
are at London, be in general admonished to desist from
such procurings, changings and trickings made in their
conventicles and simoniacal assemblies for the future :
and let them cassate and cancel all contracts and bargains
fraudulently made, though confirmed with oaths, which in
this case are null ; and let all such frauds and simoniacal
contracts, which are not in their power to break, be dis-
covered to the bishop of the dioceses in which such bene-
fices as are concerned in the transaction do lie, that they
by whose procurement or consent these contracts were
made, may be enjoined penance according to their merits,
under pain of the greater excommunication after fifteen
days' notice, (five days being allowed after each of the three
usual admonitions) which we pass upon them by this
writing from this time foi'ward, as well as from that time
forward. And do ye strictly enjoin and cause other
bishops to be so enjoined, that these wicked merchants of
the Lord's inheritance, and such as have several dignities,
churches, and Chojipe- Churches, be struck with the sword
of ecclesiastical censuie, especially such of them as are in
orders, as being universally abhorred by all, lest by the
neglect of you and other bishops this clamour be again
repeated in our ears. And do ye cause us to be certified
of what you have done in the premises before the feast of
St. Michael the Archangel next ensuing, by your letters
patents containing a copy of these presents. Dated in
our Manor of Slyndon, on the fifth day of March, in
the year of our Lord 1391, and of our translation the
eleventh.
" By authority of which reverend mandate we have en-
joined it by our letters, as the custom is, to be fully exe-
cuted as to all and singular its contents, by all and singular
your sufifragans of your province of Canterbury in their
cities and dioceses, according to the full power, form, and
effect of the said mandate, and have caused the said
mandate, and all and singular the premises, so far as we
COURTNEY. 229
are concerned to be put in due execution, and will cause
it so to be done to the best of our power, God permitting.
And thus we have duly executed your most reverend man-
date, according to the demand and effect thereof in and
through all particulars. Dated in our Manor of Hadham
on the seventh day of September, in the year of our^I.oi'd
above- written, and of our consecration the eleventh."
In 1392, the Archbishop held a synod in St. Marys
Church, Cambridge, in which a tenth was granted to the
King under circumstances rather pecuhar, as related by
Speed.
" The laity, at the parliament now holden at London,
had yielded to aid the King with a fifteenth, upon condi-
tion that the clergy should succour him with a tenth and
a half, against which unjust proportion William de Court-
ney, Archbishop of Canterbury, most stiffly opposed,
alleging, that the Church ought to be free, nor in anywise
to be taxed by the laity, and that himself would rather die
than endure that the Church of England (the liberties
whereof had by so many free parliaments, in all times,
and not only in the reign of this King, been confirmed)
should be made a bond maid. This answer so offended
the commons, that the knights of the shires, and some
peers of the land, with extreme fury, besought, that tem-
poralities might be taken away from ecclesiastical persons,
saying, that it was an alms-deed, and an act of charity, so
to do, thereby to humble them. Neither did they doubt,
but that their petition, which they had exhibited to the
King, would take effect. Hereupon they designed among
themselves, out of which abbey, which should receive such
a certain sum, and out of which, another I myself (saith
a monk of St. Alban's) heard one of those knights confi-
dently swear, that he would have a yearly pension of a
thousand marks out of the temporalities belonging to that
abbey. But the King, having heard both parts, com-
manded the petitioners to silence, and the petition to be
razed out, saying, he would maintain the English Church
VOL. IV. z
230 COURTNEY.
in the quality of the same state or better, in which himself
had known it to be when he came to the crown. The
Archbishop hereupon, having consulted with the clergy,
came to the King, and declared, that he and the clergy
had with one consent willingly provided to supply his
majesty's occasions with a tenth. This grant the King
took so contentedly, as he openly affirmed he was better
pleased with this free contribution of one tenth for the
present, than if he had gotten four by compulsion."
This year he commenced his metropolitical visitation,
but was opposed at first by the Bishops of Exeter and
Salisbui7. The Bishop of Exeter issued his mandate,
forbidding all persons in his diocese, under pain of excom-
munication, to acknowledge the Archbishop's jurisdiction.
Courtney issued a mandate in opposition thereto, requiring
their submission to his authority. The Bishop appealed
to the pope, and fixed up his appeal upon the gates of his
cathedral. The Archbishop notwithstanding proceeded in
his visitation, and cited the Bishop to appear before him,
and answer to certain articles exhibited against him. The
citation was despatched by one of the Archbishop's officers,
named Peter Hill ; who being met by some of the Bishop
of Exeter's servants in the town of Topsham, they, disco-
vering his business, not only beat him most unmercifully,
but obliged the poor fellow to chew, and swallow the
instrument, which was of parchment, wax and all. The
King, being informed of this violence, sent an order to the
Earl of Devonshire, and others, to apprehend the bishop's
servants, and bring them before the Archbishop. Which
being done, Courtney enjoined them the following penance.
They were to walk in procession before the cross, in their
shirts only, and carrying lighted tapers in their hands ;
to pay a certain stipend to a priest for saying daily mass
at the tomb of the Earl of Devonshire ; and lastly to pay
twenty shillings each towards repairing the walls of the
city of Exeter. The Bishop in the meantime prosecuted
his appeal in the court of Rome ; but finding the Arch-
COURTNEY. tJ31
bishop's credit prevail there, and that the King likewise
espoused his cause, he thought it the most prudent course
to withdraw his appeal, and to acknowledge both his own
offence and the Archbishop s jurisdiction. The Bishop of
Salisbury, when it came to his turn to be visited, made
no less resistance, but proceeded, as he thought, with more
prudence and caution than the Bishop of Exeter had
done. For being of opinion, that the Archbishop's visito-
rial power was founded solely upon the authority of Pope
Urban, who was now dead, he found means to procure
from Pope Boniface, his successor, an exemption of himself
and his diocese from metropolitical visitation in virtue of
Pope Urbans authority. With this privilege he waited on
the Archbishop at Croydon, but met with an unexpected
reception from that prelate, who declared he would visit
the diocese of Salisbury, notwithstanding any papal ex-
emption, and commanded the bishop to be ready to receive
him on a certain day in his cathedral church. The bishop,
depending on his privilege, took no notice of this order ;
and, the Archbishop beginning his visitation, appealed to
the Pope. The Archbishop immediately excommunicated
him, and commenced a prosecution at law against him,
for endeavouring to withdraw himself from the subjection
he owed to the see of Canterbury. The Bishop of Salis-
bury, terrified by this severity, and the recent example of
his brother of Exeter, renounced his appeal, acknowledged
the Archbishop's jurisdiction, and, through the interces-
sion of the Earl of Salisbury and others, obtained absolu-
tion and reconciliation.
In this year the King directed his royal mandate to the
Archbishop, not to countenance or contribute any thing
towards a subsidy for the Pope. The writ sets forth,
" That the Archbishop could not be ignorant, that the
King was bound by oath to maintain the rights and cus-
toms of the kingdom, to govern impartially by the laws, to
secure the property of the subject, and to prevent imposi-
tions being charged or levied upon the people without the
common consent of the kingdom," The King suggests
332 COURTNEY.
farther, " That the commons, lately assembled in parlia-
ment at Westminster, had addressed him for a remedy
against the impositions upon the clergy, at that time
exhausted by the court of Rome ; and had petitioned him,
that if any person should bring in any papal bulls for
levying such impositions, or should actually collect or levy
such impositions, he should be adjudged, and suffer as a
traitor to him and his kingdom." His highness adds,
*' That he had granted, with the consent of the same
parliament, that nothing should be levied or paid, that
might tend to the burthen or damage of the subject and
kingdom ; that notwithstanding this legal provision, he
was informed of a new papal imposition upon the clergy,
which by his (the Archbishop s) authority, or that of his
suffragans by his order, >vas to be levied without the
common advice and assent of the kingdom ; which he
(the King) could not suffer consistently with his oath.'*
And therefore in the close he commands the Archbishop,
" upon his allegiance, and under the highest forfeitures,
to revoke his orders for the levying this tax, and to return
what had been already paid," enjoining him " not to pay,
or contribute any thing to this subsidy, under the penalties
aforesaid." Witness the King at Westminster, the 10th
day of October. Writs of the same purport and date were
directed to the Archbishop of York, to all the bishops of
both provinces, to the guai*dians of the spiritualities, and
to the several collectors of this tax. A like writ was di-
rected to the Pope's nuncio, commanding him to desist
from exacting this subsidy, sub forisfactura vitse et mem-
brorum, under forfeiture of life and limb. This imposition
was the payment of a tenth laid upon the clergy by the
Pope, as appears by the title of the record, Becimis Papae
non solvendis.
On the ocfave of Hilary a parliament was held at Win-
chester ; and here, the Archbishop of Canterbury being
probably suspected of abetting the pope's encroachments
upon the Church and State, delivered in his answer to
certain articles in the tenor following : —
COURTNEY. 233
" To our dread sovereign Lord the King in this present
parliament, his humble chaplain William, Archbishop of
Canterbury, gives in his answer to the petition brought
into the parliament by the commons of the realm, in
which petition are contained certain articles.
" That is to say, first. Whereas our sovereign Lord
the King, and all his liege subjects ought of right, and
had been always accustomed to sue in the King's court, to
recover their presentations to churches, to maintain their
titles to prebendaries and other benefices of holy Church,
to which they have a right to present. The cognizance of
which plea belongs solely to the court of our sovereign
lord the King, by virtue of his ancient prerogative, main-
tained and practised in the reigns of all his predecessors
Kings of England. And when judgment is given in his
highnesses said court upon any such plea, the archbishops,
bishops, and other spiritual persons, who have the right of
giving institution to such benefices within their jurisdic-
diction, are bound to execute such judgments, and used
always to make execution of them at the King's command,
(since no lay person can make any such execution) and are
also bound to make execution of many other commands of
our lord the King : of which right, the crown of England
has been all along peaceably possessed ; but now of late,
divers processes have been made by the holy father the
pope, and excommunications published against several
English bishops for making such executions, and acting
in pursuance to the King's commands in the cases above
mentioned, and that such censures of his holiness are
inflicted in open disherison of the crown and subversive of
the prerogative royal, of the King's laws, and his whole
realm, unless prevented by proper remedies."
To this article, the Archbishop premising his protesta-
tion, " that it was none of his intention to affirm our holy
father the pope has no authority to excommunicate a
bishop, pursuant to the laws of holy Church, declares, and
answers, that if any executions of processes are made, or
234 COURTNEY.
shall be made by any person : if any censures of excom-
munication shall be published, and served upon any
English bishops, or any other of the King s subjects, for
their having made execution of any such commands, he
maintains such censures to be prejudicial to the King's
prerogative, as it is set forth in the commons' petition :
and that so far forth he is resolved to stand with our lord
the King, and support his crown in the matters above
menti(med, to his power,
" And likewise whereas it is said in the petition, that
complaint has been made, that the said holy father the
pope had designed to translate some English prelates to
sees out of the realm, and some from one bishopric to
another, without the knowledge and consent of our lord
the King, and without the assent of the prelates so trans-
lated, (which prelates are very serviceable and necessary
to our lord the King, and his whole realm) which transla-
tions, if they should be suffered, the statutes of the realm
would be defeated, and made in a great measure insignifi-
cant, and the said lieges of his highnesses council would
be removed out of his kingdom, without their assent, and
against their inclination, and the ti'easure of the said
realm would be exported : by which means, the country
would become destitute both of wealth and council, to the
utter destruction of the said realm : and thus, the crown
of England, which has always been so free and indepen-
dent, as not to have any earthly sovereign, but to be
immediately subject to God in all things touching the pre-
rogatives and royalty of the said crown, should be made
subject to the pope, and the laws and statutes of the
realm defeated and set aside by him at pleasure, to the
utter destruction of the sovereignty of our lord the King,
his crown and royalty, and his whole kingdon, which God
forbid.
" The said Archbishop, first protesting that it is not his
intention to affirm, that our holy father aforesaid cannot
make translations of prelates according to the laws of holy
COURTNEY. 235
Church, answers and declares that if any English prelates,
who by their capacity and qualification, were very service-
able and necessary to our lord the King, and his realm, if
any such prelates were translated to any sees in foreign
dominions, or the sage lieges of his council were forced out
of the kingdom agaiust their will, and that by this means,
the wealth and treasure of the kingdom should be exported;
in this case, the Archbishop declares that such transla-
tions would be prejudicial to the King and his crown : for
w^hich reason, if any thing of this should happen, he
resolves to adhere loyally to the King, and endeavour as
he is bound by his allegiance, to support his highness in
this, and all other instances, in which the rights of his
crown are concerned. And lastly, he prayed the King
this schedule might be made a record, and entered upon
the parliament roll, which the King granted."
From this declaration of the Archbishop, it is evident
he was no vassal to the court of Rome : he did not assert
the pope's supremacy so far as to weaken his allegiance,
or to make him an ill subject.
We may observe farther, that this schedule of the Arch-
bishop seems to have led the way to the statute of prae-
munire passed in this parliament. For the preamble and
introductive part of the act is but a copy as it were of this
declaration. The bill, it is true, was brought in by the
commons by way of petition, who prayed the King to
examine the opinions of the lords spiritual and temporal
upon the contents. The question being put, the lords
temporal promise to stand by the King, against the pope's
encroachments ; neither were the engagements of the
lords spiritual less loyal and satisfactory : For they con-
curred in all points with the commons' petitions, and
renounced the pope in all his attempts upon the crown.
After this preambulatory remonstrance, together with
the engagement of the three estates to stand by the crown
in the cases above mentioned, the enacting part of the
statute follows, viz.
236 COURTNEY.
" Whereupon our said lord the King by the assent
aforesaid, and at the request of his said commons, hath*
ordained, and established, that if any purchase, or pursue,
or cause to be purchased or pursued, in the court of
Rome or elsewhere, any such translations, processes and
sentences of excommunications, bulls, instruments, or any
other things whatsoever, which touch the Kiug, against
him, his crown and his royalty, or his realm, as is afore-
said, and they which bring within the realm, or them
receive, or make thereof notification, or any other execu-
tion whatsoever within the same realm, or without, that
they, their notaries, procurators, maintainors, abettors,
fautors, and counsellors, shall be put out of the King's
protection, and their lands, and tenements, goods and
chattels, forfeit to our lord the King : and that they be
attached by their bodies, if they may be found, and
brought before the King and his council, there to answer
to the cases aforesaid, or that process be made against
them by praemunire facias in manner as it is ordained in
other statutes of provisors : and other which do sue in any
other court in derogation of the royalty of our lord the
King."
In 1395 he visited the diocese of Lincoln, where he
gave a considerable check to the growth of the Oxford
heresy. He obtained most unjustly from the pope, who
had no right to grant it, a grant of four-pence in the
pound to defray the expenses of his visitation, on all
ecclesiastical benefices : he was opposed by the Bishop of
Lincoln, who most unwisely appealed to the pope. Thus
was it, that by disputes between our own bishops, the
Church of England was betrayed into the hands of a
foreign prince and prelate. In the midst of this unhappy
controversy. Archbishop Courtney died. His death occur-
red on the 31st of July, 1396.
He founded a college of secular priests at Maidstone,
and left a thousand marks for the repairs of Canterbury
cathedral. — Godwin. Collier. Parker. Johnsons Eccles.
Laws. Wilkin s Cone. Wharton.
cox. m
COWPER, WILLIAM.
William Cowpek, prelate, was born at Edinburgh, in
1566. From the school of Dunbar he was removed to
St. Andrew's; after which, in 158-2, he visited England,
and was assisted, for nearly two years, in his theological
studies by the famous Hugh Broughton. On entering
into orders he became minister of Bothkenner, in the
county of Stirling, and next* at Perth, where his conduct
was so exemplary that James VI. appointed him Bishop
of Galloway, and dean of the Chapel Royal. He died in
1619, and in 1629 his works were published in London,
in one volume, folio.
cox, EICHARD.
Richard Cox was born at Whaddon, in Buckingham-
shire, in 1499, and was educated at Eton and at Kings
College, Cambridge. In 1525 he was appointed by
Wolsey a junior canon of Cardinal College, Oxford. He
was accounted one of the first scholars of his age. He
was attached to the small party of pious and learned men
who were at this time anxious to promote a reformation
in our Church, but in that Church at this time the
Romanists formed the dominant party, and young Cox
becoming obnoxious to the heads of houses in the univer-
sity, was deprived of his preferment and cast into prison
on a suspicion of heresy. When at length he was released
from prison, he became master of Eton College. He
rapidly obtained other preferments, and when it was
proposed to -convert the collegiate church of Southwell into
a bishopric, Cox was designed for that see. But though
the King promised to expend a portion of the money taken
from the monasteries in founding this and other sees, the
money was not forthcoming, and the King and his courtiers
spent the revenues of the Church on their selfish luxuries.
The sees projected were Dunstable, Colchester, Shrewrf-
VOL. IV. 2 A
238 COX.
bury, Bodmin, and Southwell. But Cox was not neglected,
for he became dean of Christ Church, and was soon after
appointed, through the interest of Archbishop Cranmer,
tutor to Priuce Edward. On that prince's accession to
the throne, he became a great favourite at court, and was
made a privy-counsellor, and the King's almoner. The
21st of May, 1547, he was elected chancellor of the univer-
sity of Oxford ; installed July 16, 1541, canon of Windsor;
and, the next year, made dean of Westminster. About
the same time he was appointed one of the commissioners
to visit the university of Oxford, in which he is accused of
having much abused his commission. In 1550, he was
ordered to go down into Sussex, and endeavour, by his
learned and atfecting sermons, to quiet the minds of the
people, who had been disturbed by the factious preaching
of Day, Bishop of Chichester, a violent papist. And when
the noble design of reforming the canon law was in agita-
tion, he was appointed one of the commissioners. Both
in this and the former reign, when an act passed for giving
all chantries, colleges, &c., to the King, through Dr. Cox's
powerful intercession, the colleges in both universities
were excepted out of that act.
When the Romish party came into power under Queen
Mary, Cox was committed to prison, but being soon after
released, he left the country and proceeded to Strasburg.
Here he learned with grief that the exiles at Frankfort
had laid aside the liturgy of the Church of England, and
adopted one on the Geneva model. It was concluded among
them, that the answering aloud after the minister should
not be used ; the litany, surplice, and many other things
also omitted, because in the reformed Churches abroad
such things would seem more than strange. It was far-
ther agreed upon, "that the minister, in the room of the
English confession, should use another, both of more
effect, and also framed according to the state and time ;
and the same ended, the people to sing a psalm in metre
in a plain tune, as was and is accustomed in the French,
cox. 239
Dutch, Italian, Spanish, and Scottish Churches : that
done, the minister to pray for the assistance of God's
Holy Spirit, and so to proceed to the sermon. After the
sermon, a general prayer for all estates, and for England,
was also devised: at the end of which prayer was joined
the Lord's Prayer, and a rehearsal of the articles of the
belief ; which ended, the people to sing another psalm as
before. Then the minister pronouncing this blessing,
The peace of God, &c., or some other of like effect, the
people to depart. And as touching the ministration of
the Sacraments, sundry things were also by common con-
sent omitted, as superstitious and superfluous." They had
indeed submitted the liturgy of the Church to the celebrated
John Calvin, who presumptuously spoke of our book of
Common Prayer as retaining much of the dregs of popery,
and containing some tolerable fooleries, not considering
that no foolery is tolerable in the worship of Almighty
God.
Dr. Cox, with several other learned men, came to P' rank-
fort in March 1555, to settle the differences existing there
among the members of the English Church, who were
pushing their reforming principles to a vicious extreme.
They were determined to restore the English service.
Their first attempt was to introduce the repetition of the
responses, and undaunted by the opposition of these fa-
thers of puritanism, Dr. Cox directeclone of the clergy who
attended him to say the litany, while he and those who
came with him from Strasburg responded in a devout and
regular manner. This excited the indignation of the
notorious John Knox, who in the afternoon, when it was
his turn to preach, railed against the Book of Common
Prayer, calling it superstitious, impure, imperfect, and
popish, and aflBrming the present persecution to be a
judgment upon the Church of England for not having
reformed enough. For this he was justly rebuked by
Dr. Cox.
These differences being now come to a great height, it
was thought proper to fix a day, when both sides might
240 COX.
have an impartial hearing, and those matters be debated
at large. The Tuesday following was the day appointed ;
and when they were assembled, a motion was made, that
Dr. Cox, and his companions, might be allowed the privi-
lege of voting in the congregation. The puritans opposed
this with great vehemence ; and insisted, that the present
controversy should be first decided, and that they should
be obliged to subscribe the discipline, before they were
allowed that privilege. They also pretended, that some of
Dr. Cox's company, lay under the suspicion of having
been at mass in England, and that others had subscribed
the doctrines of the Church of Rome : by which malicious
slander, they thought, so to incense the congregation
against them, that they should not be allowed a farther
hearing. But this calumny was soon confuted ; the first
part of the charge being wholly false and groundless, and
the latter affecting none but Mr. Jewell, whose repentance
was as public as his offence : and therefore, though this
idle and wicked aspersion had at first made such impres-
sion on the congregation, that they withstood the admis-
sion of Dr. Cox and his friends ; yet when they had been
allowed to speak in their own vindication they cleared
themselves, so fully and satisfactory, from that imputa-
tion, that Knox himself entreated to have them admitted.
And now the majority being on their side, they declared
for the immediate restitution of the English liturgy ; and
forbad Knox, if he continued obstinate in his opposition
to it, to officiate any longer in the congregation.
Upon this Whittingham, a leading man among the
puritans, made his complaint to the senator Glauberge,
by whose means they had obtained the license for a
church ; and he interposing in the dispute, commanded
two of the most eminent of each side to be selected to
consult and agree upon a decent order for the public
service ; and when they had settled it to make a report of
their proceedings to him. On the Church side were ap-
pointed Dr. Cox and Mr. Lever ; and for the puritans
Knox and Whittingham. But when they came to a
cox. 241
conference, before they had gone through the morning
service, their differences grew so high (Dr. Cox strenu-
ously insisting on the restitution of the Uturgy, and
Knox and Whittingham obstinately rejecting it) that
the committee was forced to break up without effect.
The puritans immediately addressed the senate, making
grievous complaints against the Church party, and reflect-
ing severely on the obstinacy and incompliance of
Dr. Cox. By this address they so far prevailed as to
obtain an order from the magistrates that the congrega-
tion should conform, in doctrine and ceremonies, to the
French ; and that those who refused to submit should
quit the town.
Dr. Cox, who saw it was but lost labour at present to
strive against the stream, consented to comply with this
injunction of the magistrates, till he could have an oppor-
tunity of laying before them a clear and impartial account
of things, and convince them of the justice of his cause.
It was not long before he had the happiness to effect this :
and because Knox, by his fawning and dissembling, had
worked himself into their good esteem, and pretended to
be more zealously and heartily affected towards them than
any on the church side, he thought it expedient to detect
his hypocrisy, and give them a true idea of the spirit of
the man. This he did by shewing them a book written
by Knox, entituled "An Admonition to Christians;" in
which he had most bitterly reviled and abused the Em-
peror, calling him a worse enemy of Christ than Nero ;
and speaking many obnoxious things bordering on trea-
son. The magistrates, being willing to act impartially in
this affair, sent for Whittingham, Knoxs intimate friend,
and giving him the book with the passages which were
complained of marked out, they commanded him to bring
them an exact version of those passages into Latin by one
in the afternoon. When they had received his version,
and considered it, after a short deliberation they sent
Knox a command to depart the city ; otherwise they let
VOL. IV. 3b
2i3 COX.
him know thej should be obliged to deliver him tip to the
Emperor, if upon information concerning this pestilent
book he should send to demand him.
The banishment of Knox was a fatal blow to the
puritan faction, and they lost ground considerabl}' ; for a
petition being presented to the magistrates, subscribed by
three doctors, and thirteen bachelors of divinity, besides
diverse others of inferior degree, for the establishment of
the English liturgy, it was received in a most gracious
manner ; and the liturgy was commanded to be used by
all the English exiles ; and particular orders were given
to Whittingham, and bis party, not to presume to oppose,
or dispute against it. Whittingham, upon this, replied,
that he was willing to let them, who had such a fond
esteem for the book, enjoy the full and free use of it ; but
that he hoped, that himself, and his friends, might have
the liberty to join themselves to some other Church.
This indulgence. Dr. Cox foresaw, would be of most per-
nicious consequence; and therefore requested, that it
might not be allowed. At this Whittingham took tire,
and challenged him to a public disputation; but the
magistrates, who knew Whittingham's obstinate temper
and ungovernable passion, and had seen by his conduct at
the late conference how unlikely it was to bring him to
any reasonable accommodation, refused to suffer it. The
puritans, extremely mortified at these proceedings, applied
again to old Glauberge to interpose in their behalf ; but
he knew them too well now ever to be misled by their
artifices again, and gave them a flat denial.
On the ^8th of March, Dr. Cox, who had now gained
an entire victory, sent for all the English clergy to his
lodgings, and acquainting them with his success, proposed
to them to settle the church after the English order,
and to appoint and fix church officers. The puritans
exclaimed against the reception of the liturgy, and mur-
mured at tlie persons appointed to be officers in the
church ; but they were told that the common prayer was
cox. 243
established by the magistrates, under whose protection as
long as they continued it was their duty to obey them in
all things lawful ; and that the church was not to be left
unsettled and in disorder, to gratify their peevish and
perverse humours. When the affairs of the church were
regulated, Dr. Cox proceeded to form a kind of an univer-
sity ; and appointed a Greek and a Hebrew lecturer, a
divinity professor, and a treasurer for the contributions
remitted from England.
As soon as things were thus settled and composed, he
wrote to Calvin to give him an account of his proceedings,
and to excuse his not consulting with him in these affairs.
The letter was subscribed by fourteen of the chief of the
congregation. Calvin in his answer railed at the church
ceremonies, condemned their strict adherence to the
liturgy, and pressed them to comply with the scruples of
the dissenting party. And, indeed, what other answer
could be expected from a man who always was severe in
his censures upon whatever himself had not a principal
hand in ? But this answer of his taking no effect, the
puritan faction began to think of removing and setting up
separate congregations in another place ; and to vindicate
themselves from the guilt of schism, with which they were
charged, they wrote to the congregation, desiiing to have
the cause referred to four arbitrators, to whose decision
they would stand. This they were told was a most un-
reasonable request ; and that it would be great folly, when
every thing was settled in a regular and decent order,
to undo all again, and refer the decision to arbiters.
Dr. Cox farther told them that there was more of wilful-
ness and obstinacy in these pretended scruples of theirs
than real conscience ; and handsomely exposed their
ridiculous proposal of referring controversies in religion to
arbiters. He asked what they would think of them who,
in the disputes concerning the sacraments, predestination,
and free-will, should agree to choose four arbiters, and to
believe in those points whatever they should determine ?
and whether it was not as foolish and absurd to refer the
244 COX.
public worship of God, and the discipline of the Church,
to the same method of decision ? After this, some warm
words passed on both sides ; and the puritans departed in
a rage, and retired to Basil and Geneva.
Dr. Cox, hoping that all things were now well settled at
Frankfort, and that by their departure all future occasion
of religious disputes would be removed, withdrew to Stras-
burgh, for the satisfaction of conversing with Peter Martyr,
with whom he had contracted an intimate friendship at
Oxford, and whom he loved and honoured for his great
learning and moderation.
After the death of Queen Mary he returned to Eng-
land ; and was one of those divines who were appointed
to review the liturgy : and when a disputation was to
be held at Westminster, between the papists and the
reformed clergy, he was the chief champion against the
Romish bishops. He preached often before Queen Eliza-
beth in Lent ; and in his sermon at the opening of her
first parliament, in most affecting terms exhorted them to
restore religion to its primitive purity, and discharge all
the popish innovations and corruptions. These excellent
discourses, and the great zeal he had shewn in defence of
the English liturgy at Frankfort, so effectually recom-
mended him to the Queen, that she rewarded his great
services by noDiinating him to the see of Ely, vacant
by the deprivation of Thirlby. Before his consecration
he joined with Dr. Parker, the elect Archbishop of Can-
terbury, and the elect Bishops of London, Chichester, and
Hereford, in a petition to the Queen against an act lately
passed, for the alienating and exchanging the lands and
revenues of the bishops ; and sent her diverse arguments,
from Scripture and reason, against the lawfulness of it,
observing withal the many evils and inconveniences both
to Church and State, which would be the fatal conse-
quences thereof. He was consecrated at Lambeth, on the
'21st of December, 1559.
This see he filled more than one and twenty years ; and
was all that time one of the chief pillars and ornamenta
cox. '245
of our Church. He was very serviceable both to Arch-
bishop Parker and his successor Grindal; and by his
prudence and industry contributed to the regular resti-
tution of our reformed Church to that beauty and good
order which it had before enjoyed in the reign of King
Edward. He was indeed no great favourite of the Queen;
but that is to be imputed to his zealous opposition to her
retaining the crucifix on the altar of the Royal Chapel,
and his strenuous defence of the lawfulness of the mar-
riage of the clergy, against which the Queen had con-
tracted a most inveterate and unaccountable prejudice.
He was a great patron to all learned men whom he found
well affected to the Church ; and shewed a singular esteem
for Dr. Whitgift, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury,
whom he made his chaplain, and gave him the rectory of
Teversham in Cambridgeshire, and a prebend of Ely. He
did his utmost to obtain a reformation of the ecclesiastical
laws (which was drawn up by Archbishop Cranmer, Bishop
Ptidley, and other learned divines, of whom himself was
one, in the latter end of King Edward's reign) established
by the authority of parliament ; but through the unreason-
able opposition of some of the chief courtiers this noble
design miscarried a third time.
As he had, in his exile at Frankfort, been the chief
champion against the factious innovations of the puritans,
so he now continued, with the same vigour and resolution,
to oppose their turbulent and seditious attempts against
the discipline and ceremonies of the Church He laboured
by gentle usage and learned arguments to bring back the
seduced ; and by timely and wholesome severities to quell
and suppress the obstinate and incorrigible.
When the schism at Frankfort was settled Dr. Cox
retired to Strasburgh, till the death of Mary, when he
returned to his native land.
He reviewed and corrected the writings of Whitgift
against Cartwright — (See Life of Carticrir/ht and Whit-
gift) — and when Gaulter, the calvinist, wrote against
2b 2
246 COX.
pressing the catholic ceremonies still retained in our
church, he addressed to him a letter from which the fol-
lowing is an extract :
" I wish indeed you had not lent so ready an ear to a
few of our somewhat factious brethren. And it were to be
desired that a man of your piety had not so freely given
an opinion, before you had fully understood the rise and
progress of our restoration of religion in England. There
was formerly published by command of King Edward of
pious memory, and with the advice and opinion of those
excellent men. Master Bucer, and Master Peter Martyr,
then residing in England, a book of common prayer and
sacraments for the use of the Church of England. But
now, as soon as our illustrious Queen Elizabeth had suc-
ceeded to the kingdom, she restored this holy little book
to the Church of England, with the highest sanction of
the whole kingdom. At that time no office or function of
religion was committed to us who now preside over the
churches ; but when we were called to the ministry of the
churches, we embraced that book with open arms, and not
without thanks to God who had preserved for us such a
treasure, and restored it to us in safety. For we know
that this book ordains nothing contrary to the word of
God.
" It will not be foreign to the subject to state what
Master Peter Martyr of pious memory wrote to us when
exiles at Frankfort. ' I find nothing,' he says, speaking of
this book, ' in that book contrary to godliness. We know
that some contentious men have cavilled at and calum-
niated it. Such persons ought rather to have remem-
bered that our Lord is not a God of contention, but of
peace.' Had you been aware of these circumstances,
Master Gaulter, you would not have been so alarmed, as
you say you are, lest after the imposition of the habits
some greater evil might ensue. The statements indeed,
which are whispered in your ears by the contentious, are
inoit absurd : for instance, that besides the habits many
cox. 247
other things are to be obtruded on the Church; and that
there are some who make an hriproper use of the name of
the Queen ; and moreover, that the ministers who refuse
to subscribe to the injunctions of certain individuals, are
to be turned out of the churches : just as if there were any
persons in England who would dare to frame laws by their
private authority, and propound them for the obedience
of their bretliren. But this is not only false, but injuri-
ous both to the Queen and. the ministei's of the word, to
wit, that we may humour her royal highness, and make
her more decided in ordering every thing according to her
own pleasure. But far be any one from suspecting any
thmg of the kind in so godly and religious a personage,
who has always been so exceedingly scrupulous in deviat-
ing even in the slightest degree from the laws prescribed.
Moreover, she is in the habit of listening with the greatest
patience to bitter and sufficiently cutting discourses.
Again, far be it that the ministers of the word should be
said to have foully degenerated into base flattery. We
indeed do not as yet know of any one who has abused
either your authority, Gaulter, or that of any godly
fathers, in approval of the popish dress, which we seri-
ously reject and condemn equally with themselves. Nor
is it true that we have obtruded any thing upon our bre-
thren out of the pope's kitchen. The surplice was used
in the Church of Christ long before the introduction of
popery. But these things are proposed by us as having
been sanctioned by the laws, not as the papists abused
them to superstition, but only for distinction, that order
and decency may be preserved in the ministry of the word
and sacraments. And neither good pastors nor pious lay-
men are offended at these things.
" You seem to take it ill that the bishops w^ere ap-
pointed to the management of these matters. Nay, you
seem to insinuate, from the parable of Christ, (Matt. xxiv.
49,) that we are perfidious, drunken, and smiters of our
fellow-servants; as if we approved the figments of the
superstitious courtiers, and treated the godly ministers
248 COX.
with severity, and exhibited ourselves as the ministers of
intemperate rashness. You thought that we should defend
the cause of such ministers.
" These imputations are very hard, and very far from
the truth. Has not the management and conservation of
ecclesiastical rites, from the very origin of a well-consti-
tuted church, been at all times under the especial control
of bishops ? Have not the despisers and violators of such
rites been rebuked and brought into order by the bishops ?
Let the practice of the holy Church be referred to, and it
will be evident that this is the truth. And it would cer-
tainly be most unjust to number those who now discharge
the episcopal office, among the perfidious or the drunken.
You candidly and truly confess, Master Gaulter, that
there are some among those brethren who are a little
morose; and you might add too, obstreperous, conten-
tious, rending asunder the unity of a well-constituted
Church, and everywhere handing up and down among the
people a form of divine worship concocted out of their own
heads ; that book, in the mean time, composed by godly
fathers, and set forth by lawful authority, being altogether
despised and trodden under foot. In addition to this,
they inveigh in their sermons, which are of too popular a
character, against the popish filth and the monstrous
habits, which, they exclaim, are the ministers of impiety
and eternal damnation. Nothing moves them, neither
the authority of the state, nor of our Church, nor of her
most serene majesty, nor of brotherly warning, nor of
pious exhortation. Neither have they any regard to our
weaker brethren, who are hitherto smoking like flax, but
endeavour dangerously to inflame their minds. These
our brethren will not allow us to imitate the prudence of
Paul, w4io became all things to all men, that he might
gain some. Your advice, and that especially of the
reverend fathers Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr, and Henry
Bullinger, can have no weight with these men. We are
undeservedly branded with the accusation of not having
performed our duty, because we do not defend the cause
cox. 24g
of those whom we regard as disturbers of peace and reli-
gion ; and who by the vehemence of their harangues have
so maddened the wretched multitude, and driven some of
them to that pitch of frenzy, that they now obstinately
refuse to enter our churches, either to baptize their child-
ren, or to partake of the Lord's Supper, or to hear sermons.
They are entirely separated both from us and from those
good brethren of ours ; they seek bye paths ; they establish
a private religion, and assemble in private houses, and
there perform their sacred rites, as the Donatists of old,
and the Anabaptists now ; and as also our papists, who
run up and down the cities, that they may somewhere or
other hear mass in private. This indeed is too disgusting,
to connect our Queen with the pope."
This zealous Anglican Prelate was the chief supporter
of Archbishop Parker, whom he exhorted to go on vigor-
ously in reclaiming and restraining the puritans, and not
to sink or be disheartened at the frowns of those court-
favourites who protected them ; assuring him that he
might expect the blessing of God on his pious labours to
free the Church from their dangerous attempts, and to
restore its unity, and establish uniformity. And when
the privy council interposed in favour of the puritans, and
endeavoured to screen them from punishment, he wrote a
bold letter to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh ; in which he
warmly expostulated with the council for meddling in the
affairs of the Church, which ought to be left to the deter-
mination of the bishops ; admonished them to keep them-
selves within their own sphere ; and acquainted them with
his design of appealing to the Queen, if they continued to
interpose in matters not belonging to them.
This zeal of the good bishop in defence of the Church
was, in all probability, the occasion why the Lord North,
and some other of the courtiers, endeavoured to rob him
of his best manors ; and on his absolute refusal to alien-
ate, or give them aw^ay, did their utmost to incense the
Queen against him, and get him deprived. They examined
his whole conduct from his first accession to that see ; and
S50 COX.
drew up a large body of articles against him : but the bishop,
in his reply, so fully vindicated himself from all asper-
sions, and so clearly confuted their groundless and mali-
cious calumnies, that the Queen was forced to confess him
innocent. Notwithstanding which, perceiving the malice
of his enemies to be implacable, and that there was no
possibility of reclaiming them from their sacrilegious de-
signs, he wrote of his own accord to the Queen, begging of
her to give him leave to resign. His great age and infirm
state of health made him the more earnest in his petition :
and his resignation would have been certainly accepted if
they could have found any other divine of note who would
have taken the see on their terms. The first offer of it was
made to Parkhurst, Bishop of Norwich ; and on his re-
fusal it was proffered to several others : but the conditions
were so ignominious and base that they all rejected it :
by which means Bishop Cox continued in it till his death,
which happened on the 22nd of July, 1581, in the eighty-
second year of his age. The see continued vacant near
twenty years after his death ; during which time there is
no doubt but those sacrilegious designs, which he so reso-
lutely opposed, were executed with a high hand.
His works, chiefly published after his decease, are,
1. "An Oration at the beginning of the Disputation of
Dr. Tresham and others with Peter Martyr."
2. "An Oration at the conclusion of the same ;" both
in Latin, and printed in 1549, 4to, and afterwards among
Peter Martyr's works. The second is also printed in the
Appendix to Strype's Life of Cranmer.
'6. He had a great hand in compiling the first Liturgy
of the Church of England : and was one of the chief
persons employed in the review of it in 1559.
4. He turned into verse the Lord's Prayer, commonly
printed at the end of Sternhold and Hopkins's Psalms, a
composition which will not bear modern criticism.
5. When a new Translation of the Bible was made in
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, now commonly known by
the name of the Bishop's Bible, the Four Gospels, the
CRADOCK. 251
Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistle to the Romans, were
allotted to him, for his portion.
6. He wrote, " Resolutions of some Questions concern-
ing the Sacraments ;" in the collection of records at the
end of Dr. Burnet's History of the Reformation.
7. He had a hand in the " Declaration concerning the
functions and divine institution of Bishops and Priests,"
and in the " Answers to the ' Queries concerning some
abuses of the Mass.' "
8. Several letters and small pieces of his have been
published by Strype, in his Annals of the Reformation,
and Lives of the four Archbishops ; and he is said to have
assisted in Lilly's Grammar. A letter written by him in
1569, directed to the parson of Downham, and found in
the parish chest of that place, was some years ago pub-
lished in the Gentleman's Magazine. It relates chiefly to
the state and condition of the poor, before the statutes of
the 14th and 43rd of Queen Elizabeth were enacted ; and
shews that the bishop was animated with a very laudable
zeal for engaging persons of wealth and substance to
contribute liberally, cheerfully, and charitably, to their
indigent neighbours. — Downes. Brief Discourse of the
Troubles at Frankfort. Zurich Letters.
CRADOCK, SAMUEL,
Samuel Cradock was born in 1620, and educated at
Emanuel College, Cambridge, of which he became fellow,
and was presented to the rectory of North Cadbury, in
Somersetshire, from whence he was ejected for non-con-
formity in 1662. After this he settled at Bishop Stortford,
in Hertfordshire, where he died in 1706. His works are,
1. Knowledge and Practice, a System of Divinity, folio.
2. The Harmony of the Evangelists, folio. 3. The Apos-
tolical History, folio. 4. The Old Testament Methodized,
8 vols, folio. 5. An Exposition of the Revelations.—
Calamy.
252 CRANMER.
CRADOCK, ZACHARY.
Zachart Cradock, brother of the preceding, was born
in 1633. He was educated at Queen's College, Cambridge,
and in 1672 was appointed provost of Eton, in opposi-
tion to Waller, the poet. He died in 1695. Dr. Cradock
published two sermons, one on Providence, and the other
on the Design of Christianity. — Gen. Biog. Diet,
CRANMER, THOMAS.
Thomas Cranmer was born July 2nd, 1489, at Aslacton,
in the county of Nottingham, and at fourteen years of age
was sent to Jesus College, Cambridge, by his mother, his
father being dead. At the age of twenty-two he married
and forfeited the fellowship he had obtained in his college,
to which, however, on his wife's death, the year after, he
was restored. He was offered promotion in Cardinal
Wolsey's College at Oxford, which he, for some unknown
reason, declined, but the offer proves the estimation in
which he was held in his own university. Proceeding to
the degree of D.D. he was, in 1526, appointed one of the
public examiners of theology in the university. At this
time there were several pious men in the university who,
from the study of the Scriptures and the early fathers, as
well as from the instructions of Erasmus, were anxious to
see the Church of England reformed, but the spirit of
Romanism had so thoroughly pervaded the Church, that
to this new school, which was prepared to oppose Romish
peculiarities, whenever discovered to be such, a great
opposition was raised. Dr. Cranmer, though naturally
timid and cautious, was on the reforming side, and was
ready to adopt any lawful measures for ridding the coun-
try of papal usurpation.
About this period Henry the Vlllth felt, or affected to
feel, compunction of conscience, for having married his
brother's widow, the amiable, the pious, the devoted
CRANMER. 253
€atherine. If his passion for Anne Boleyn did not give
rise to his feelings, with respect to the divorce, and the
facts of history seem to shew that he had entertained
them before he was acquainted with her, there can le
no doubt that this circumstance decided his iniquitous
course.
It was not hkely that Dr. Cranmer -would at this time
be acquainted with the virtues of the exemplary Catherine,
or with the heartless intrigues of the giddy girl, who
thought to rise upon her ruin. The question of the
King's divorce assumed both a political and a religious
aspect, for it involved a question of papal authority. It is
not to be wondered at, that those who thought that the
whole of that authority, as exercised over the Church of
England, was a usurpation, should enter eagerly upon
the subject when the King was beginning to dispute that
authority on a particular point. Let the authority be
shaken on one point, it would soon be shaken on others
also. This seems to have been the feeling in Dr. Cran-
mer's mind, when at the house of Mr. Cressy, Waltham
Abbey, Essex, he met Edward Fox, the King's almoner,
and Stephen Gardiner, the King's secretary. In the
course of conversation he delivered it as his opinion that
it would be better " to have the question whether a man
may marry his brother's wife or no, decided and discussed
by the divines, and by the authority of the Word of Gcd,
than thus from year to year to prolong the time by having
recourse to the pope ; that there was but one truth in it,
which the Scriptures would soon declare and manifest,
being handled by learned men, and that it might as well
be done in England, in the universities here, as at Rome,
or elsewhere." This opinion being reported by these
official personages to the King, Dr. Cranmer was sum-
moned to the royal presence, and taken into favour. He
was directed to write a book on the divorce, which he did,
residing at the time with Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wilt-
shire. When he had finished the book, in which he
VOL. IV. 2 c
254 CRANMER
asserted that the pope could not dispense with the Word
of God ; he went to Cambridge, where he brought many
persons over to his view of the subject. He was made
Kings chaplain, and Archdeacon of Taunton. From that
time there seems to have existed a personal attachment
between Henrj and Cranmer. It is difficult to account
for the fact, that Cranmer escaped the destruction or
disgrace which was destined for most of those who
had been at any time favourites with Henry, except
on the supposition that Henry perceived that, while
others were serving him to promote their selfish ends,
Cranmer was really attached to his person. Nor may
we wonder that such a person as the gentle-spirited and
pure-minded Cranmer should become attached to the
King ; for the viler traits of Henry's character were
only gradually brought to hght ; and much may have
been concealed from Cranmer when primate. There
was much in Henry's personal address to conciliate
esteem, for he was, in spite of his vices, during great part
of his reign, a popular sovereign. And we all know how
apt the mind is to make allowances for the worst charac-
ters, when by frequent intercourse we find something
good in them, which is unknown to those who only see
the coarser features ; and this kind of weakness, which
renders it so dangerous to associate with a wicked per-
son, is only increased when that person is a king, and
that king a benefactor. The more vigorous mind of the
bluff Henry may have overawed the yielding spirit of
Cranmer.
Cranmer was sent as ambassador to Rome, where he pre-
sented to the pope the book before alluded to, in which
he had proved that the pope had no authority to dis-
pense with the Word of God. He offered to dispute
against the validity of Henry's marriage, but he found
no opponent. He was, however, civilly treated, and the
pope made him grand penitentiary throughout England,
Ireland, and Wales. He was sent also to Germanj on
CRANMER. Q5ti
the same affair ; and in 1532 concluded a treaty of com-
merce between England and the Low Countries. During
his residence in Germany he married a second time, and
had for his wife Anne, niece of Osiander.
In 1532, on the death of Archbishop Warham,
Dr. Cranmer was fixed upon by Henry for his successor
in the metropolitan see of Canterbury. Much has been
written about his unwillingness to accept the appoint-
ment, some asserting, and some doubting his sincerity.
No one can suppose that Cranmer was not an expectant
of preferment; high in favour with the King, and em-
ployed in affairs of the first importance, he must have felt
secure on that point ; and this very circumstance would
render him the less willing to undertake so dangerous
and difficult a post as that of the primacy. He must have
seen that things could not remain as they were ; and
while he felt it his duty to support the movement party,
he was himself a quiet, unambitious, rather self-indulgent
person ; not by nature qualified to be either a leader or a
martyr. Nothing could be more probable than that such
a person should linger and delay as much as possible, —
in the hope that in the meantime something else might
fall vacant better suited to his desire of domestic comfort.
Henry, however, was not a person to be disobeyed ; it was
indeed equally dangerous to accept or to refuse a favour at
his hands. And by the command of Henry, Cranmer
became Archbishop of Canterbury. Much has been written
on the subject of the protest he uttered previously to his
taking an oath of fidelity to the pontiff. It is not a plea-
sant passage in his life, but it is only one out of the
many instances which are on record of his weakness. He
stated to the King his opinion that since of the Church of
England, he regarded the King, not the pope, as the
supreme head, — (an error quite as bad as that which
allots the headship to the pope) — the oath of fidelity
should be taken only to his majesty. And it was a kind
of compromise between Cranmer and the King, suggested
256 CRANMER.
by the lawyers, that he should take the papal oath, but
under protest. There is no doubt now that, contrary to
the statements of papal writers, the protest was made
publicly.
One of the first acts of the new primate was to pro-
nounce sentence of divoree upon the pious and exem-
plary Catherine. However much we may pity the injured
Queen, the subject of the divorce had been fully can-
vassed, and there can be no doubt that Cranmer acted
conscientiously. His next act was to crown her thought-
less, heartless successor, Anne Boleyn; though he expressly
declares that he had nothing to do with her hasty, secret,
and indecent marriage with Henry.
In this year, 1533, he sat in judgment upon one Frith,
who was condemned to the stake for refusing to speak of
the corporeal presence of Christ within the host and sacra-
ment of the altar as necessary to be believed. Although
the penalties of the law were enforced, Cranmer, with his
usual benevolence, endeavoured most earnestly to persuade
the poor man to recant.
After this he held a visitation of his diocese, where he
found the clergy to be a divided body ; some maintaining
with more zeal than discretion, the new doctrines, as they
were called, of the universities ; others wishing to keep
the Church as it then was, and as strongly attached to the
Romish interpretation of our formularies as some persons
now are to the calvinistic interpretation of them. When
there is a disagreement as to principles, the disagreement
is manifested generally by their application to some one
subject of general interest ; and the subject of discussion
among the clergy now related to the royal divorce and
marriage. If the reforming party in bur church had the
best of the argument when contending against the papal
supremacy, they must at the same time have found it.
difficult to defend the King's indecent marriage, which
would seem to be the result, not of principle, but of appe-
tite. Such difficulties are frequently experienced, and
CRANMER. Ji57
men defend what is wrong lest they should injure a good
cause, hoping and believing that there is some palliation
for the wrong conduct of those who advocate right prin-
ciples, though at the time unknown. Cranmer's mode of
putting an end to the controversy would not be approved
in the present day. He restrained both parties from
preaching.
The Archbishop this year had the honour to be god-
father to the Princess Elizabeth, afterwards the celebrated
Queen ; and the pope threatening him with excommuni-
cation on account of his sentence against Queen Catherine,
he appealed to a general council. In 1534 he acted on
the same principle, and through his influence acts of par-
liament were passed, abolishing the papal supremacy.
In convocation this year it was declared by both houses,
that the pope had no greater authority in this country
than any other foreign prelate, and Cranmer, in conse-
quence, altered his title, removing the words apostolicae
sedis legatus, and inserting metropolitanus. Thus did
the clergy declare, that the power exercised over our
Church by the pope was a usurpation. It was ordered
that the pope's name should be struck out of the offices of
the Church, and in the bidding prayer they were directed
to teach the people to pray for " our Sovereign Lord
Henry VIIL, being immediate, next to God, the only and
supreme head of this our Catholic Church of England."
The complete and easy manner in which this great change
was eifected is, as Mr. Soames observes, worthy of remark.
On the last day of March, Archbishop Cranmer proposed
to the convocation of his province the following question :
Has the Roman bishop conferred upon him by God any
greater jurisdiction in this kingdom than any other foreign
bishop ? In the upper house this question was unani-
mously decided in the negative : in the lower house four
members only voted in the affirmative, and one doubted.
Even this inconsiderable degree of dissent was not mani-
fested by the clergy of the northern province. The con-
2c 2
258 CRANMER.
vocation assembled at York unanimously, after diligent
inquiry and mature deliberation, determined the question
in the negative. The same question was submitted to the
two universities, and they also came, without a single dis-
sentient voice, to the same determination. These learned
bodies did not, however, deny the principles which they
had been used to inculcate, with undue haste, or without
sufficient investigation. They examined the matter re-
ferred to them in public disputations, and the conclusion
to which they came was such as they found themselves
unable to elude. In their judgment the less distin-
guished ecclesiastical corporations also concurred, and
thus the whole clergy of England renounced, almost
without a struggle, the foreign authority to which the
Church had been long used to bow : a convincing proof
that the arguments upon which this alien interference is-
founded will not bear the test of diligent and impartial
inquiry.
In 1535, the Archbishop submitted to the disgrace of
having a layman placed over him in ecclesiastical affairs.
Thomas Cromwell, a worldly minded, jobbing advocate
of the reforming party, who seems to have exercised con-
siderable influence over the undecided and unsuspect-
ing mind of the Archbishop, was made vicar-general,
or vice-gereot, and took precedence of both Archbishops.
We must not blame Archbishop Cranmer very severely
for this, — his notion was, however mistaken, yet sincere ;
that the King had succeeded to all the authority which
the pope had heretofore exercised, excepting only the
power of officiatiug in church, and he received Cromwell
as the Sovereign's representative. Although we, at a dis
tant period, perceive this to have been a mistake, yet the
position was anomalous, and we must make due allow-
ance. We may regret that one of firmer principles
was not archbishop at the time to establish his rights ;
but we cannot censure Cranmer, because, when placed
in ver}' difficult circumstances, he was too meek and
diffident.
CRANMER. 259
In the convocation of this year certain articles of reli-
gion were set forth, in which the clergy were required to
teach all things contained in the Scriptures, and the three
creeds, and to condemn all things contrary thereto, as
they had been condemned in the first four general
councils. As the pope was about to hold a council
at MaDtua, in which it was probable the proceedings
in Eugland would be censured, a remonstrance was
signed by the convocation, in which it was declared
that neither the Bishop of Rome, nor any one prince,
without the consent of others, could assemble a general
council.
Cromwell, well knowing that nothing would so tend to
preserve his authority as devising means for replenishing
the funds of his master, proposed this year to dissolve the
lesser monasteries, on the plea of their attachment to
Rome. With the exception of Cromwell, Henry, and the
dissolute courtiers, the other reformers endeavoured to
prevent the suppression from being general, or at least to
convert the revenues to ecclesiastical purposes. Cranmer
wished them to be devoted to the formation of new
bishoprics. A visitation of the monasteries, in the King s
name, was appointed ; the Archbishop being inhibited
from interfering. The visitation was conducted in
the most unjust and tyrannical manner, although, with-
out doubt, into many of the religious houses great abuses
had crept ; only the lesser monasteries were dissolved at
this time.
In 1536 the tyrant King, who is the disgrace of the
Reformation, having fallen in love with Jane Seymour,
determined to rid himself of Anne Boleyn. There is a
characteristic letter extant of Cranmer's to the King upon
the proceedings against the Queen. It is cautious,
courtier-like, and so worded as not to give offence ; but
there is an attempt to say something in favour of the
Queen, though not enough to bring the writer into dis-
grace, Cranmer, who had not the spirit of St. Ambrose
no CRANMER
to resist a tyrant, pronounced a sentence of divorce against
the Queen, but on what grounds it does not appear.
In 1537 was published the Institution of a Christian
Man. It was called the Bishop's Book, because drawn
up chiefly by their authority. Cranmer was at this time
much annoyed by slanders and various calumnies, which
were heaped upon him by those who were opposed to the
movement ; and they are merely mentioned here to notice
the meekness and gentleness with which the Archbishop
remonstrated with the offenders, at a time when he had
the power to commit them to prison. To his great joy,
what may be called the first version of Scripture author-
ized by our Church, was published this year. What is
called Cranmer s, or the great Bible, was published in
1539, of which the King granted, at Cranmer s interces-
sion, a free and liberal use.
In the year 1538 the shrine of Thomas a Becket in
our Archbishop's own cathedral w^as destroyed, and it was
followed by the destruction of other shrines ; — the im-
postures practised by a low and degraded class of the
clergy were many and great, and on being exposed must
have strengthened the hands of the new^ school, which was
certainly gaining ground in our church. Some envoys from
the protestant princes of Germany, expecting from these
circumstances to win Henry over to their side, were now
in England on Cranmer's invitation ; they had discussions
with the Archbishop and some of our other divines, both
with respect to the Romish impositions and with respect
also to the articles of the Confession of Augsburg. But
they do not seem to have made any great impression
upon the chief persons in our church, and they left the
country evidently disappointed. Even Cranmer took parti
in the trial of Lambert soon after, who was consigned to
the flames, for lefusing to admit the doctrine of transub-
Btantiation.
Towards the close of Henry's reign the Romish party
in our church came into power, and nothing but the
CRANMER. 261
King's personal attachment to Cranmer saved him.
Bishop Gardiner was in the royal favour, and the Duke
of Norfolk was prime minister. As is too often the case
wdth political parties, they purchased peace by the sacri-
fice of principle, and by purchasing the King's favour at a
disgraceful price. If Cromwell and the reforming party
are to blame for destroying the lesser monasteries, they
have at least the excuse to urge in their favour, that if
they sometimes exaggerated defects, they certainly found in
many instances very scandalous abuses. It was by the
Romish party that the measure for the destruction of the
greater monasteries was carried ; the reformers now in
opposition, only contending against the appropriation of
the revenues to the sole use of the King. They wished
them to be bestowed upon hospitals, grammar schools,
and cathedrals, under new regulations. They did in part
succeed ; but the revenues intended for the promotion of
piety were for the most part squandered by Henry and
his profligate courtiers. The loss to the poor was great;
not only because the monks were more charitable than the
courtiers, maintaining all the poor in their district, but
because the property was public property, i. e. property in
which many persons had a share, and to the possession of
which the poorest man might rise. If it were an evil that
the property became so large ; it is admitted. It is an
evil, and causes discontent, that one man, whether peer
or commoner, should have a fortune of a hundred thou-
sand a year. But it is a greater evil, — an evil which
would be attended with worse results, to take his fortune
from him : therefore he is j)ermitted to retain it. But
the poor have no defenders : their property was seized,
and for years the country suffered from the act of in-
justice. That the system of monasteries had done its
work, that the corruptions were great, that a radical
reform was necessary, no one acquainted with ecclesi-
astical history can doubt. We only regret that what had
been given to the poor had not been reserved in soma
262 CRANMER.
way to be a blessing to the million, instead of being
devoted to the support of Henry's courtiers and their
descendants.
It is much to be regretted that, by the spoliation of the
Church, Cranmer, among other courtiers, sought to enrich
his family. King Edward the Vlth, in the tirst year of
his reign, granted among other estates all the demesne
lands in Horsforth, belonging to the monastery of Kirk-
stall, the ruins of which are still the ornament of the
parish of Leeds, to Archbishop Cranmer. And in the
fourth year of the same reign, the same archbishop
obtained a license to alienate these lands to one Peter
Hammond, and others, to the use of Thomas Cranmer his
eldest son, and his heirs. This alienation of church
property during the royal ministry, and when the arch-
bishop's influence, as one of the regency, must have been
great, will ever be a reflection upon his grace's character,
while it betrays a worldliness of mind which his piety was
unable to overcome.
In 1539, both in convocation and in parliament, the
Romish party of the Church of England had so far gained
the ascendancy, as to obtain the enactment of the memor-
able six articles, the first of which asserted the popish
view of transubstantiation ; the second defended half
communion, the third enforced clerical celibacy, the
fourth related to vows of chastity, the sixth insisted on
auricular confession.
The most honorable and the boldest step ever taken by
Cranmer, was his arguing in the negative against most of
these propositions, in spite of the King's support of them.
His opposition was energetic, and it was made under a
sovereign who could ill brook opposition, and therefore at
the peril of his life.
But this was succeeded by conduct the most cowardly
and disgraceful. Both parties in the Church of England,
the Romish under Gardiner, and the reforming under
Cranmer, assented to the divorce of Ann of Cleves, on th^
CRANMER. 265
ground that the King had not inivardly consented to the
marriage. It was sanctioned by convocation, and thus
the whole Church was involved in the disgrace. The dis-
grace and execution of Cromwell soon followed. The
tenderness of Crauraer's nature induced him to plead for
the man who, however unworthy, had been so long his
friend ; but his was the cautious pleading of a courtier.
He did not speak for the man whom he believed to be
innocent with the boldness of the ancient fathers, but,
courtier-like, he said ; " I loved him as my friend, for so
I took him to be ; but I chiefly loved him for the love
which I thought I saw him bear ever towards your grace
singularly above all other. But now if he be traitor I am
sorry I ever loved him or trusted him, and am very glad
his treason is discovered in time." However cleverly
turned this may be, it is nevertheless far from the style
in which we should have wished an archbishop to write.
And we must add, that on the second and third readings
of the bill of attainder against Cromwell, Cranmer offered
no dissent.
He was at this time employed in discussing the seve-
ral articles of the Book, which was published in 1543,
"A necessary Doctrine and Erudition of Christian Men," it
was a revision, but not an improvement of the Institution.
The Institution had been sanctioned by convocation, the
Erudition had only the authority of the King. Cranmer
took the lowest possible view of ecclesiastical offices at this
time, and instead of acting with the freedom of a Christian
Bishop, he wrote at the end of the first of the answers
forwarded to the King, " This is my opinion and sentence
at this present ; which I do not temerariously define, but
remit the judgment thereof wholly unto your Ma-jesty."
We can scarcely conceive any thing more dastardly than
such a sentence addressed by an Archbishop to a profligate
layman.
In the convocation of 15*2, the Romish party made
another attempt to stay the progress of Scrijitural know-
2^4 CRANMER.
ledge. Existing English versions of the Bible were
again loudly decried as incorrect, and it was repre-
sented that, in justice to the people, a new revision
of the sacred volume was imperiously required. The
propriety of such a measure not being denied by the
reforming party. Bishop Gardiner proposed that in
the new translation about one hundred terms, which
he said the English tongue could not adequately ex-
press, should be rendered into Latin. The convocation,
however, refrained from compromising its character by
mocking the nation with the offer of a translation of
the Bible rather tending to embarrass than to inform
the popular mind. It was at first proposed that the
Bishops should severally undertake to revise portions of
the sacred volume ; but, as from their obvious leaning
towards the Romish policy, there was reason to doubt
their zeal in such an employment, Cranmer moved, that
the desired revision should be confided to the two univer-
sities. This proposal elicited fresh opposition from tlie
Romanizers. All the Bishops, except Goodrich of Ely,
and Barlow of St. David's, protested against it. The
reputation for learning formerly enjoyed by the universities,
it was asserted, had been much impaired of late ; and the
men who then took the lead at those celebrated seminaries
were described as very unequal, both from unripeness of
age and from want of judgment, to prepare such an edition
of the sacred writers as might justly claim the confidence
of Englishmen. By these representations, however, the
primate was wholly unmoved. He had obtained the
King's concurrence in his plan, and the convocation did
not eventually presume to dispute such high authority.
But the triumph gained led to no result. Whatever were
the cause, nothing is known to have been done by the
universities at this time towards perfecting the English
Bible ; and the whole debate is only deserving of notice,
inasmuch as it furnishes, not one of the least remarkable
of the many instances, which shew the unwillingness of
CRANMER. 265
Romanists to allow a free comparison of their tenets with
the declarations of that volume which alone forms the
universally recognized, and unquestionably safe standard
of a Christians faith.
Cranmer had also the merit of drawing the attention of
this convocation to the absurd honours which images still
continued to receive. The clumsy attempts to decorate
these objects, in which vulgar superstition yet found a
vent, were now formally condemned ; and the saints of
stone, or wood, were for the future to be deprived of their
silken vests, and glimmering tapers. Besides obliging
the clergy to clear their churches of these unsightly fop-
peries, the Archbishop proposed a revision of the ritual.
He urged the propriety of expunging from the public ser-
vice all mention of the pope, and of saints not recorded in
Scripture, or in authentic authors ; all legendary tales,
and every other matter which would not bear to be con
fronted with the undoubted Word of God. This proposal,
however, appears to have been rather coldly received
With omitting all mention of the pope, of Becket, and ot
some other Romish saints, the clergy generally were dis-
posed to rest satisfied. Another year, therefore, was
allowed to pass away, and still the service-book was found
to vary but very inconsiderably from its old state. At the
expiration of that period, Cranmer acquainted the convo-
cation that he was the bearer of his majesty's commands,
enjoining an immediate revision of the liturgy. In conse-
quence of this message it was voted, that the Bishops of
Ely and Sarum, together with six assistants, three for
each prelate, to be selected from the lower house, should
be charged to fulfil the royal pleasure. The inferior
clergy, however, declined the nomination of any members
from their own body for this purpose ; and the projected
revisal was either not attempted at all, or very slightly
performed. Indeed, to the end of Henry's reign, the
liturgical books in use before his rupture with Rome, were
allowed, with a few omissions or erasures, to direct the
VOL. lY. 2d
•266 CRANMER.
public devotions. Another motion of the protestant party,
offered to the convocation of this year, also failed of
success. The Lord Chancellor Audley submitted to the
consideration of the upper house a bill, which he proposed
to lay before parliament, intended to enable married men
to act as chancellors in the diocesan courts, and to exer-
cise in an effective manner the functions of that ofiQce.
This bill, however, was highly disapproved by the
prelates ; and, by their instances, the chancellor was in-
(Juced to abandon the design of introducing it to the
house of lords.
Amidst this stiffness in maintaining established usages,
the upper house of convocation was not wholly unmindful
of a more liberal policy. It was ordered there, that on
every Sunday and holiday throughout the year, the offi-
ciating minister of every parish should read to his con-
gregation a chapter, in English, out of the Bible, after
the Te Veum and Magnificat. He was not, however, to
accompany his reading by any comment ; and he wa»
to read in succession all the chapters in the Sacred
Volume.
In his visitation, in 1543, the Archbishop found the
clergy much divided : some had neglected to proclaim the
royal supremacy, while others of the new school, and
among them Ridley and the Archbishop's brother, seem to
have fallen into some indiscretion in their attempts to
reform. The Romish clergy of the Church of England
still warned the people against the preachers of the new
learning. Several conspiracies were formed against the
Archbishop, from which he only escaped through the
friendship of the King. The account given of his trials is
not quite the same in Strype and Burnet as in Arch-
bishop Parker ; and it is not worth while, in such a con-
cise biography as this, to enter into the discussion of
details. We proceed therefore to remark that, in 1544,
when the King was preparing for an expedition against
France^ and had ordered a litany to be said for a blessing
CRANMER. 267
on bis arms, the Archbishop prevailed with him, to let it
be set forth in English ; the service in an unknown
tongue making the people neghgent in coming to Church.
This, with the prohibition of some superstitious and un-
warrantable customs, touching vigils and the W'Orship of
the cross, was all the progress the Reformation made
during the reign of King Henry : for the intended refor-
mation of the Canon Law, was, by the craft of Bishop
Gardiner, suppressed for reasons of state ; and the King,
toward the latter end of his life, seemed to have a strong
bias toward the popish supei^titions, and to frown on all
attempts at a Reformation.
On the 28th of January, 1546, King Henry departed
this life ; and was succeeded by his only son, Edward,
who was godson to the Archbishop, and had been instruct-
ed by men who favoured the Reformation. Archbishop
Cranmer was one of those, whom the late King had
nominated for his executors, and who were to take
the administration of the government into their hands,
till King Edward was eighteen years old: and when
the Earl of Hertford was afterwards chosen protector,
his power was limited, so as not to be able to do any
thing, without the advice and consent of all the other
executors.
We have hitherto seen Dr. Cranmer, the advocate of
the Reformation, but yielding in his w^eakness too fre-
quently to King Henry. We now must look upon him as
exposed to other influences, and through weakness yield-
ing to the ultra-protestants.
On the 20th of February, the coronation of King
Edward was solemnized at Westminster Abbey. The
ceremony was performed by Archbishop Cranmer, who
made a speech to the King; in which, after a just
censure of the papal encroachments on princes, and
a declaration, that the solemn ceremonies of a corona-
tion add nothing to the authority of a prince, whose
power is derived immediately from God ; he goes on to
268 CRANMER.
inform the King of his duty, exhorts him to follow the
precedent of good Josias, to regulate the Avorship of God,
to suppress idolatry, reward virtue, execute justice, relieve
the poor, repress violence, and punish the evil-doer. It
may not be improper to transcribe what he says concern-
ing the divine original of kingly power, in his own words,
to rectify some prevailing notions amongst us.
*' The solemn rites of coronation," says he, '•' have their
ends and utility, yet neither direct force or necessity ;
they be good admonitions to put kings in mind of their
duty to God, but no increasement of their dignity : for
they be God's anointed, not in respect of the oil, which
the bishop useth, but in consideration of their power
which is ordained, of the sword which is authorized, of
their persons which are elected of God; and endued
with the gifts of His Spirit, for the better ruling and
guiding of His people. The oil, if added, is but a
ceremony ; if it be wanting, the King is yet a perfect
monarch notwithstanding, and Gods anointed, as well
as if he was inoiled." Then follows his account of the
King's duty ; after which he goes on, " Being bound
by my function to lay these things before your royal
highoess, yet I openly declare, before the living God,
and before these nobles of the land, that I have no
commission to denounce your majesty deprived, if your
highness miss in part, or in whole, of these per-
formances."
This speech had such an effect on the young King, that
a royal visitation was resolved on, to rectify the disorders
of the Church, and reform religion. The visitors had six
circuits assigned them ; and every division had a preacher,
whose business it was to bring off the people from super-
stition, and dispose them for the intended alterations.
And to make the impressions of their doctrine more last-
ing, the Archbishop thought it highly expedient to have
some homilies composed, which should, in a plain me-
thod, teach the grounds and foundation of true religion*
CMKMEii. SCO
and correct the prevailing errors and superstitions. On
this head he consulted the Bishop of Winchester, and
desired his concurrence, but to no purpose ; for Gardiner,
forgetting his professions of all future obedience to the
Archbishop, wrote to the protector to put a stop to the
Reformation in its birth. When Cranmer perceived that
Gardiner was obstinate, he went on without him, and set
forth the first Book of Homilies, in which himself had the
chief hand. Soon afterwards Erasmus' Paraphrase on the
New Testament was translated, and placed in every
church, for the instruction of the people.
Although the Romish party had been in power during
the latter part of King Henry's reign, yet Cranmer had
prepared the w^ay for a further reformation of our Church
with skill and judgment. This became apparent in the
convocation, which was holden on the 5th of November,
1547. The Dean of Lincoln was chosen prolocutor of the
lower house, in the province of Canterbury, and presented
to the Archbishop and Bishops. In his opening address,
Cranmer recommended that the reformation should be
carried forward, and that the clergy should keep close by
the Holy Scriptures. Petitions were presented by the
prolocutor to the Archbishop, of which one was that provi-
sion should be made for the examination of the ecclesias-
tical law, according to the act of the late King to that
effect. Another was somewhat singular, for it was a
prayer that the lower clergy might be united to the house
of commons. There was also another, praying that the
works of the Bishops and others, who, by order of convo-
cation, had laboured in examining, reforming, and pub-
lishing, the Divine Service, might be produced and laid
before the lower house. It is evident that the arrange-
ment of the liturgy had already been commenced by the
Bishops. In their fifth session, an ordinance was read
in the lower house, which had been communicated by the
Archbishop, relative to the communion in both kinds.
The prolocutor and other members signed the document :
2d 2
270 CRANMER.
and in the next session the proposal was adopted. In the
eighth session the question of the celibacy of the clergy
was introduced, and proceeding to a vote, fifty- three voted
for the repeal of all the prohibitory enactments, while
twenty-two were opposed to anj' change whatever.
The convocation having declared in favour of the com-
munion in both kinds, an act of parliament was soon
passed authorizing the changing of the mass into a com-
munion, and ordering that the cup should be administered
to the laity. An Order of Communion was accordingly
drawn up by a committee of Bishops and divines. Pre-
vious, however, to the publication of the book, a series of
questions was proposed relative to this sacrament. Both
questions and answers maybe seen in Burnet and Collier.
The book was published a. d. 1548. This was the first
step taken in this reign in the reformation of the public
services.
It was a little before this, about the year 1546, that
Dr. Ridley, by reading the work of Bertram — (see his
Life) — concerning the Body and Blood of Christ, had
been led to examine closely the prevailing opinion of the
Corporeal Presence ; where, having found it much opposed
in the ninth century, especially by this learned writer,
he communicated the result of it to Dr. Cranmer, and
henceforward they both pursued the subject with more
than ordinary care. How diligently Cranmer studied the
subject is apparent from the works he published in con-
troversy with Gardiner in the year 1550. The chief work,
indeed, of the Archbishop, designed for publication, is the
one then published under the title of "A Defence of the
true and Catholic Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Body
and Blood of our Saviour Christ, with a confutation of
sundry errors concerning the same."
The Archbishop's work had no sooner appeared than it
was attacked both by Bishop Gardiner and Dr. Smyth,
then residing at Louvain. The treatise first mentioned
attracted a considerable degree of notice, and Cranmer
CKANMER. 271
lost no time in preparing an answer to it ; noticing in his
way such of Smyth's arguments as appeared of any im-
portance. This rejoinder was pubhshed in the autumn
of 1551, under the title of " An Answer, by the Reverend
Father in God, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, unto
a crafty and sophistical Cavillation, devised by Stephen
Gardiner, Doctor of Law, late Bishop of Winchester,
against the true and godly doctrine of the most holy
Sacrament, of the Body and Blood of our Saviour, Jesu
Christ. Wherein is also, as Occasion serveth, answered
such Places of the Book of Doctor Richard Smyth, as may
seem any thing worthy of the answering." Nothing could
be more fair or fearless than the course adopted by
Cranmer in this controversy, for he printed in his own
work the whole of Gardiner's tract, commenting upon it
piece by piece. At the end of the volume, he placed an
answer to Smyth's preface, and some tables, bringing into
a single point of view the inaccuracies, inconsistencies,
errors and absurdities into which Gardiner had fallen.
That prelate defended his production in a piece published
in Latin, at Paris, in 1552, under the name of Marcus
Antonius Constantius, a divine of Louvain. To this
rejoinder Cranmer was anxious to reply, and he had, pre-
viously to his death, composed three books in confutation
of it. Of these, the two first perished in Oxford ; of the
third nothing farther is known, than that it fell into the
hands of Foxe.
Of this work, the Archbishop spoke thus, in the solemn
appeal he made from the pope to the next general
council :
" Touching my doctrine of the Sacrament, and other
ray doctrine, of what kind soever it be, I protest that it
was never my mind to write, speak, or understand any
thing contrary to the most holy Word of God, or else
against the holy Catholic Church of Christ, but purely and
simply to imitate and teach those things only, which I had
learned of the sacred Scripture, and of the holy Catholic
272 CRANMER.
Church of Christ from the beginning, and also according
to the exposition of the most holy and learned fathers and
martyrs of the church.
" And if any thing hath perad venture chanced other-
wise than I thought, I may err : but heretic I cannot be,
forasmuch as I am ready in all things to follow the judg-
ment of the most sacred Word of God, and of the holy
Catholic Church, desiring none other thing, than meekly
and gently to be taught, if anywhere (which God forbid) I
have swerved from the truth.
"And I profess and openly confess, that in all my
doctrine and preaching, both of the Sacrament, and of
other my doctrine whatsoever it be, not only I mean and
judge those things, as the Catholic Church and the most
holy fathers of old with one accord have meant and
judged, but also I would gladly use the same words that
they used, and not use any other words, but to set my
hand to all and singular their speeches, phrases, ways,
and forms of speech, which they do use in their treatises
upon the Sacrament, and to keep still their interpretation.
But in this thing I only am accused for a heretic, because
I allow not the doctrine lately brought in, of the Sacra-
ment, and because I consent not to words not accustomed
in Scripture and unknown to the ancient fathers, but
newly invented and brought in by men, and belonging to
the destruction of souls, and overthrow of the old and
pure religion."
We must now return to the year 1547, when Cranmer,
to his disgrace, was mainly instrumental in introducing a
bill which withdrew from four deans and chapters the elec-
tion of bishops, and admitted the prelates to their sees by
the letters patent of the crown, and which declared all
jurisdiction, both spiritual and temporal, to be derived from
the King, in whose name, therefore, all episcopal citations
and processes should now run, with whose arms, instead
of their own, their official documents should be sealed.
This iniquitous act was repealed in the reign of Mary,
CRANMER. 273
when the Bishops of our Church again acted under their
own names and seals; and ever since the reign of Queen
Mary our bishops have continued to do so.
He was more honourably employed soon after in re-
sisting the further spoliation of the Church, which some
of his brother reformers designed and attempted : one
great object of Somerset's administration was to secularize
that portion of the monastic and collegiate property which
had escaped the rapacity of Cromwell, and in the j&rst ses-
sion of the parliament he introduced a bill for giving all
chantries to the King.
The bill was resisted in the house of lords, both by the
reforming and the Romish prelates, and Cranmer opposed
it in a speech of great '.length. After having depicted the
impoverished state of the clergy by the sale of the appro-
priated tithes, which, instead of being divided among the
laity, ought injustice to have been restored to the Church,
he insisted that the. present measure at least ought to be
delayed until the King arrived at full age. By this neces-
sary delay the reason assigned for the dissolution of the
chantries was more likely to be answered ; their estates
would then be applied to the improvement of the royal
revenues ; but, during the King's minority, their pro-
perty would be alienated and wasted ; and if the measure
were deferred, he was convinced that the piety of the
young prince would lead him to bestow their revenues on
the parochial clergy.
These arguments of the primate were seconded by the
Romish prelates ; for these chantries contributed to sup-
port their favourite doctrines of purgatory and masses
for the dead. But the private interests of the protector
and his dependants carried the bill through the house,
notwithstanding the opposition of the Archbishop and
seven other bishops.
In the house of commons, the opposition was equally
strong, and, as it proceeded not from religious motives,
was in part successful. Some of the burgesses repre-
274 CRANMER.
sented, that the boroughs for which they served could not
support their churches and other public institutions, if
the revenues of the chantries were given to the King.
The burgesses of Lynn and Coventry distinguished them-
selves on this occasion, and their arguments had due
weight on the house. The assent of the commons could
not be obtained without a private assurance that the guild
lands, and other property of corporate bodies, should be
restored, though guild lands as well as chantries were
included in the statute. There was also a provision in
the statute, that the revenues of the dissolved chantries
should be converted to the maintenance of grammar
schools and the increase of vicarages.
It is much to be lamented that other burgesses did not
contend for their rights as the men of Coventry did.
Trinity Church, Coventry, still possesses the property
thus secured to it ; and, under the able management of
the present vestry, it is used not only to supply the place
of church-rates, but to render that noble church what it
ought to be. The author may be permitted thus to offer
in a parenthesis this mark of respect to a body with whom
he was for a long period connected, and to a parish which
he must always regard with affection.
We have already alluded to the publication of an Office
for the Holy Communion. The next work published was
a Catechism, by Justus Jonas, translated either by Cran-
mer himself, or by some one acting under his direction.
In this catechism, the two first commandments are con-
solidated, yet with an acknowledgment that they were
anciently divided ; but the use of images is strongly
censured, as leading to the imputation, if not to the
practice, of idolatry. Besides the two sacraments of
baptism and the Lord's supper, a third is asserted, the
power of reconciling sinners to God. The divine insti-
tution of bishops and priests is fully recognised, and the
necessity of reviving the primitive discipline is strongly
enforced.
CRANMEK 275
And now came on the great and blessed work of the
reformation of our formularies ; a committee of bishops and
divines was appointed to revise the entire services of our
Church. As a necessary preparation for their intended
work, they diligently collected the different liturgies used
throughout England, of which there was no small variety.
In the south of England, the use of Sarum was generally
followed ; in the north, the offices were modelled according
to the practice of the metropolitan church of the province,
York ; while the cathedral of Lincoln prescribed the rule
for the middle diocesses. In South Wales, the customs
of Saint David's were followed, and in North Wales those
of Hereford or Bangor. There were few dioceses which
had not peculiarities in their ritual ; since any prelate,
famed for sanctity of life or for miraculous works, was not
only canonized, but imitated in his forms of devotion : the
collects and hymns which he had composed or used were
retained after his death in his own cathedral. Every
religious order had also its peculiar rites, and its peculiar
holydays. The administration of the public offices was
an art not to be learned without long study, and it con-
stituted the chief learning of the priesthood. The super-
stitious customs prescribed by these offices were of an
infinite variety, and they frequently resembled the rites of
paganism.
The first business of the reformers was to simplify all
these things, to reduce all the uses to one, and to have all
the offices translated. The result of their labours was,
the Prayer Book, substantially the same as that which we
now possess, as finally reformed and established in the
reign of Charles 11. The differences between the first
reformed Prayer Book of Edward and ours, are these :
his Prayer Book commenced with the Lord's Prayer.
The psalter was appointed to be read through monthly in
portions, and the lessons, with a little variation, are in the
same order as is still in use. A litany was also compose4
from the most ancient liturgies, consisting of short peti-
276 CRANMER.
tions, interrupted by responses ; but the invocations of
saints and martyrs, used by the church of Rome, were
omitted, and suppHcations were addressed only to the
three persons of the Blessed Trinity, first severally, and
then jointly.
The communion service, which, in the preceding year,
had been set forth separately, was retained with a few
alterations. After the consecration all elevation was for-
bidden, but the people were commanded to kneel when
they communicated. The doctrine of the coi-poral presence
was still under consideration, and therefore the scriptural
expressions, that the Body and Blood of Christ w^ere
received in the Lord's Supper by the faithful, were retain-
ed. The prayer of consecration was the same with ^that
now in use, with this addition : " With Thy Holy Spirit
vouchsafe to bless and sanctify these Thy gifts and
creatures of bread and wine, that they may be unto us the
Body and Blood of Thy most dearly beloved Son."
In the occasional offices many ceremonies were observed,
which have been since abolished as being of a supersti-
tious tendency. Besides the use of the cross in baptism,
there was at the same time an adjuration of the devil to
go out of the baptized person, and to come into him no
more. A chrysome, or white vestment, was put on the
newly baptized person, as a token of innocence, and he
was anointed on the head by the priest, who accompanied
the ceremony with a prayer for the unction of the Holy
Ghost. The catechism was the same as at present, except
an addition on the two sacraments, and it was repeated by
the catechumens when they were confirmed. The sign of
the cross was made on the forehead of each person con-
firmed, in addition to the imposition of hands ; and, in
the office of matrimony, the priest, when he gave the bene-
diction, made the sign of the cross on the forehead of the
newly married persons.
In the visitation of the sick, those who desired to be
anointed might have the unction on their forehead or
CRANMER. 277
breast only, with a prayer that, as tbeir bodies were out-
wardly anointed with oil, so they might receive the Holy
Ghost with health, and victory over sin and death. At
funerals the departed soul was recommended to the mercy
of God, with a prayer that its sins might be pardoned,
and that the body might be raised and glorified at the
last day.
When the liturgy had been completed by the com-
mittee, it was revised and approved by the two convo-
cations of Canterbury and York, or rather by a majority
of these bodies, and was then submitted to the consider-
ation of parliament. It was first brought under the
examination of the house of commons, and received
immediate assent ; but in the house of lords it continued
long under deliberation. The concurrence of the lords
was not at last obtained without a protest from the Earl of
Derby, the Lords Dacres and Windsor, with the Bishops
of London, Durham, Norwich, Carlisle, Hereford, Wor-
cester, Westminster, and Chichester, thre^ of whom had
belonged to the committee.
A statute was then passed for the use of the new liturgy
book throughout the kingdom, and was entitled " An act
for the uniformity of divine semce." The variety in the
forms of public worship, and the consequent irregularities,
were described, but the King had refrained from punishing
such disorders, believing that their authors were actuated
by an honest zeal. For their more effectual remedy, he
had appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury, and other
bishops and divines, to draw up an office for all the parts
of divine service. He had enjoined those whom he had
selected for the work to have a regard " to the direction of
the Holy Scriptures, and the usages of the primitive
Church." This work was now finished by the persons
appointed, with one uniform agreement, " by the aid of
the Holy Ghost."
The enactments against such of the clergy as officiated
*' in any manner different from the rubric" prescribed by
VOL. IT. 3 B
27B CRANMER.
the new liturgy were, a fine for the first offence, and
imprisonment for life, with forfeiture of goods, for a
contumacious refusal. A clause provided that, " for the
encouragement of learning," the universities might use a
Latin, Greek, or HeV)rew translation, of any part of the
service-book, the communion office only excepted.
It will be seen that what the Reformers did was simply
this. — 1. To translate the services. 2. To appoint Scrip-
ture to be read instead of legends. 3. To dispose the
Creed more properly. 4. To have the Lord's Prayer re-
peated aloud instead of secretly. 5. To omit the Ave
Maria and the Commemoration of the Virgin. 6. To
reject unfortunately the metrical Latin hymns without
supplying their place. 7. To omit prayers for the dead,
and invocation of saints.
Thus, as Bishop Hall remarks, the English Prayer
Book was not taken out of the mass, but the mass was
thrust out of the Prayer Book.
By the reforming party the service thus translated and
re-arranged was received with much joy; but the Romish
party in our Church received it of course' with regret.
Disturbances took place in Cornwall, and these were made
a pretext for proceeding against Bonner, Bishop of Lou-
don, (See his Life J who was the leader of the discontented
party. That Bonner could not with safety be permitted
to remain at large, is clear. Nevertheless the process of
his deprivation, and his subsequent imprisonment, were
acts of injustice ; only one must always remember his
own conduct when in power ; he not only deprived and
imprisoned his opponents, but also burned them, and
that too after having subjected them sometimes to pe]--
sonal insults heaped on them by himself, in a manner
which betrayed the brutality of his mind.
The Archbishop is justly censured for uncanonicahy
signing the death warrant of the Lord Admiral Seymour,
tb»)ugh perhaps something more may be said in his favour
in {]](' ca^se of Jane Bocher. He acted aijainst the law
CRANMER. '^79
which prohibits the interference of bishops in a cause of
blood in the case of Seymour, he merely pleaded for the
execution of the law, though a bloody and cruel one, in that
of Jane Bocher. In the first instance he weakly yielded
to courtly influence and his desire to please the protector ;
in the latter he yielded as weakly to public opinion. This
unhappy woman was condemned for holding that Christ
was not incarnate of the Virgin Mary. For this heresy,
which she refused to renounce, she was by the law liable
to the penalty of death. We know how strongly men argued
not many j-ears ago for inflicting this penalty on all who
committed forgery, — the general interests of a commercial
country would be injured, it was contended, if this law
w^ere relaxed. So now we may imagine Cranmer arguing,
that the general interests of religion would be relaxed
unless such blasphemies were restrained by the severest
penalties. And what was the argument of the Romish
party ? Just as in these days men tell us that if we hold
Church principles they w^ill end in popery, and triumph
when a convert to popery is made ; so, by the Romish
party in our Church, at the period under consideration,
the Reformers were constantly twitted with the blasphe-
mies to which, as in the case of Anabaptists, reforming
doctrines tended. Cranmer, though a pious, merciful, and
kind-hearted man, was a very weak one, and might feel
that to vindicate the Reformation, a public example ought
to be made, and therefore he used all his influence with
the young King to sign the death warrant. The unsophis-
ticated mind of the King perceived that the originators of
a movement, ought to view with every merciful allowance,
those who have fallen into error, merely by pushing to an
extreme, a principle which has been generally encouraged.
In the next year Van Paies, a Dutchman, suffered for
denying the divinity of Christ.
At this time the Archbishop unfortunately surrounded
himself with several foreign divines who, though learned
men, were prejudiced against all church principles, and by
980 CRANMER
them the vaccilating mind of his grace was unduly inflamed.
He had become discontented with his former labours
as regarded the service-book, and in 1550, we find the
question of a review of the service-book entertained.
Subsequently to the publication of the Book of 1549, the
same committee drew up a form for the ordering of
bishops, priests, and deacons, and this ordinal was added
to the Prayer Book, published in 1552, in a revised form.
In this book of Edward the Vlth, as it is called, the
general confession and absolution were added at the begin-
nings of both the morning and the evening services. At
the opening of the Communion-office were placed the Ten
Commandments ; a judicious addition to the service which
appears to have escaped the compilers of every liturgy but
our own. In confirmation, the use of oil, and the sign of
the cross were to be laid aside. In visiting the sick, an
option was no longer allowed as to the employment of
extreme unction. Prayers for the dead were wholly omit-
ted, as were also some passages provided for the consecra-
tion of the Eucharist, and the introits, or introductory
psalms, in that service. A rubric was added explanatory
of the kneeling required of those who receive the Lord s
Supper. This posture was said to be enjoined to shew the
communicant's humility, not as a mark of adoration ta
Christ, as if corporally present : " for the sacramental
Bread and Wine remain still in their very natural sub-
stances, and therefore may not be adored, (for that were
idolatry to be abhorred of all faithful Christians,) and the
natural Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ are in
heaven, and not here; it being against the truth of
Christ's natuml Body, to be at one time in more places
than in one." All appearance of a leaning towards tran-
substantiation was now avoided also by substituting the
latter clauses as they now stand in the officiating minister's
address to each communicant, for the former clauses,
which alone were enjoined in the first service-book. The
use of circular wafers was likewise interdicted, and the
CRANMER. 0.^1
sacramental bread was merely to be the same that is
ordinarily seen at table, but it was to be made "of the
best and purest wheat that conveniently may be gotten."
In baptism, besides the unction, were omitted the sign of
a cross upon the child's breast, the exorcism, the chrisom,
the two last interrogatories, and the trine immersion. In
the matrimonial office, was omitted the delivery of gold or
silver, as tokens of spousage ; in that for the churching of
women, the individual's offering of her chrisom ; in those
for the sick, all mention of private confessions, and of
reserving portions of the sacramental elements for such
persons, incapable of attending at church, as might desire
to communicate on days in which the Eucharist should be
publicly administered.
In 1552, forty-two articles of religion, the basis of the
thirty-nine, were submitted by the Archbishop to convo-
cation, and were ratified and confirmed. They were
subscribed by both houses. The catechism, usually known
as King Edward's, of which Poynet, Bishop of Winches-
ter, was the author, was also set forth by this convocation.
A code of ecclesiastical law had long engaged the atten-
tion of Cranmer, and he had laboured to accomplish his
design at the commencement of his primacy. In that
statute, which recited the submission of the clergy, a
reforai of the whole body of the canon law was provided,
and even in the reign of Henry a commission had been
appointed, in pursuance of the statute, and some progress
had been made in the undertaking. After the statute of
the six articles, the work was suspended, but not formally
abandoned ; for Cranmer often urged its necessity, and
made an extract of certain passages from the pontifical
code to convince Henry that it ought not to be studied
any longer in England.
At the beginning of Edward's reign, a couimission
was appointed consisting of thirty-two persons, and three
years were allowed for the accomplishment of the work.
But it was still retarded by various impediments, until at
2e2
282 CRANMER.
length, to facilitate its execution, a sub-committee was
chosen of eight, who were to prepare the code for the
revisal of the thirty-two commissioners. The sub-com-
mittee, like the body whence it was elected, was divided
into four classes, bishops, divines, canonists, and com-
mon lawyers. From the finished state of the " Refor-
matio Legum," it was probable that the labours of
the sub-committee had been reviewed and approved of
by the commissioners : it was ready to be submitted
to the King ; but, before it could receive the royal
confirmation, the King died, and the project died with
him.
Still Cranmer's " Reformatio Legum," though not re-
ceived by our Church, is a work of interest. By it we
perceive that King Edward's reformers would have de-
creed the penalty of death against such as should deny
the Christian religion ; whether the same punishment
was intended against heretics is a subject of dispute.
The heretic certainly was to be sent to the civil magis-
trate to be punished. In cathedrals and colleges daily
prayers and weekly communions were enjoined ; in parish
churches a sermon in the morning, and catechising in the
evening.
" On a review of the Reformation," says Mr. Carwithen,
" the conclusion must be drawn, that the reformed code
had incorporated a large portion of the substance, and had
imbibed a larger portion of the spirit, of the pontifical
law. Another conclusion must not be suppressed, that
the reformers did not entertain those latitudinarian
notions of a Christian Church which they have been com-
monly supposed to entertain. Erastus, a German divine-
had about this time promulgated the doctrine that Christ
and His Apostles had prescribed no particular form of
church government, and that the Christian ministry was
not of divine institution. He maintained that the autho-
rity of a Christian minister was derived solely from the
civil magistrate — that the ministerial office was merely
CRANMER. 283
suasory, and that coercion was not within its province ;
in fact, Erastus formally renounced the power of the keys.
Cranmer was at one time of his life suspected of inclining
to these opinions, but he must have renounced therii
before this period. The authors of the ' Reformatio
Legum' were not Erastians."
In 15513, the King's health was such that his life was
despaired of : and the courtiers of the reforming party,
dreading the succession of Mary, attempted to do evil that
good might come, and persuaded the royal youth to set
aside his sister, and to declare the Lady Jane Grey suc-
cessor to his throne ; she was grand-daughter to Mary,
sister of Henry VIII. The guilt of these statesmen was
the greater, as they had all sworn to preserve the order of
succession as directed by the will of Henry. Cranmer
argued strongly and repeatedly against the proposed mea-
sure. But with his usual weakness of character induc-
ing him to act with those who surrounded him, poor
Cranmer, although he knew what was right, at length
yielded to do what was wrong. Forgetful of his bene-
factor, Henry, regardless of his oath, he yielded a reluctant
assent to the traitorous proposal, and, at the earnest re-
quest of the dying boy, he set his hand to his will. The
young King died on the 6th of July.
For eleven days Lady Jane Grey was Queen. On the
accession of Mary, the rightful heir, x\rchbishop Cranmer
was accounted a traitor ; and while we make every allow-
ance for his weakness, we must not be surprised that
Mary only regarded him as a weak man, who feared to
act up to his principles, when he made his humble
apology for the course he had taken.
The Romish party in the Church of England were now
in power, and mercilessly did they use it. Such were,
indeed, the cruelties of the Romanists, that since the
reign of Mary, they have never acquired the ascendancy
in the Cathohc Church of this country, but have been
obliged to form a dissenting sect.
284 CRANMER.
On Queen Mary's arrival in London, Cranmer was
placed under restraint. His resolution was nobly taken,
when it was proposed to him to withdraw clandestinely
from the country: *' Were I likely," he said, "to be called
in question for treason, robbery, or any other crime, I
should be much more likely to abscond than I am at
present. As it is, the post that I hold, and tbe part that
I have taken, require me to make a stand for the truths
of Holy Scripture. I shall, therefore, undergo with con-
stancy the loss of life, rather than remove secretly from
the realm." This virtuous resolve having been formed, he
prepared for the worst by an exact adjustment of his
affairs. Every claim against him was fully satisfied ; and
thus when deprived of his resources, it was found that he
had not a single creditor. This final arrangement of his
pecuniary concerns was a great relief to his mind, " Thank
God," he piously said, " I am now mine own man. I
can now conscientiously, with God's help, answer all the
world, and face any adversities which may be laid upon
me."
Cranmer was abruptly drawn from his temporary seclu-
sion by that spirit of detraction which had industriously
pursued him during the whole course of his public life.
It had been reported, soon after Mary's triumph over the
opposition to her claim, that, anxious to gain favour with
the successful party, he had offered to celebrate King
Edward's obsequies by officiating in a mass of Requiem.
The event quickly shewed this to be an impudent fiction ;
but rumours of a similar kind remained afloat. At length
it became notorious, that mass had been restored in the
cathedral of Canterbury, and this fact was urged as an
irrefragable proof of the primate's time-serving disposi-
tion. The truth, however, is, that this illegal act had
proceeded from the orders of Dr. Thornden, the per-
fidious and ungrateful monk, who had abused so shame-
fully Cranmer's confidence and liberality several years
before.
CRANMEK 285
Nothing annoys a public man so much, as the lies by
which the envious and malignant do the work of Satan.
Personal attacks are bearable, but gratuitous lies could
provoke even so meek a man as Cranmer. His declara-
tion, in consequence of the false rumours which were cir-
culated, is as follows :
" As the devil, Christ's ancient adversary, is a liar and
the father of lies, even so hath he stirred up his servants
and members to persecute Christ and His tme word and
religion with lying; which he ceaseth not to do most
earnestly at this present time. For whereas the Prince of
most famous memory. King Henry VIII., seeing the great
abuses of the I.atin mass, reformed some things therein
in his life-time, and after our late sovereign Lord, King
Edward VI., took the same wholly away for the great and
manifold errors and abuses of the same, and restored in
the place thereof Christ's Holy Supper, according to
Christ's own institution, and as the Apostles used the
same in the primitive Church : the devil goeth about now
with lying to overthrow the Lord's Supper, again, and to
restore his Latin satisfactory mass, a thing of his own
invention and device. And to bring the same more easily
to pass, some have abused the name of me, Thomas,
Archbishop of Canterbury, bruiting abroad that I have
set up the mass again at Canterbury, and that I offered
to say mass at the burial of our late sovereign Lord, King
Edward VI., and that I offered to say mass before the
Queen's highness, and at Paul's church, and I wot not
where. And although I have been well exercised these
twenty years to suffer and bear evil reports and lies, and
have not been much grieved thereat, but have borne all
things quietly, yet when untrue reports and lies turn to
the hindrance of God's truth, they are in no wise to be
suffered. Wherefore these be to signify unto the world,
that it was not I that did set up the mass at Canterbury,
but it was a false, flattering, lying and dissembling monk,
which caused mass to be set up there without mine advice
286 CRANMER
oi- counsel : Reddat illi Domlnus in die illo. And as for
offering myself to say mass before the Queen's highness,
or in any other place, I never did it as her grace well
knoweth. But if her grace will give me leave, I shall be
ready to prove against all that will say to the contrary,
that all that is contained in the Holy Communion, set
out by the most innocent and godly prince, King Edward
VI., in his high court of parliament, is conformable to
that order which our Saviour Christ did both observe and
command to be observed, and which His Apostles and the
primitive Church used many years. Whereas the mass
in many things not only hath no foundation of Christ,
His Apostles, nor the primitive Church, but is manifestly
contrary to the same, and containeth many horrible
abuses in it. And although many, either unlearned or
malicious, do report that M. Peter Martyr is unlearned,
yet if the Queen's highoess will grant thereunto, I, with
the said M. Peter Martyr, and other four or five which I
shall choose, will by God's grace, take upon us to defend,
not only the common prayers of the Church, the ministra-
tion of the Sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies,
but also all the doctrine and religion set out by our said
sovereign Lord King Edward VI., to be more pure and
according to God's Word, than any other that hath been
used in England these thousand years : so that God's
Word may be judge, and that the reasons and proofs on
both parties may be set out in writing, to the intent,
as well that all the world may examine and judge thereon,
as that no man shall start back from his writing. And
where they boast of the faith that hath been in the church
these fifteen hundred years, we will join them in this
point and that the same doctrine and usage is to be
followed which was in the church fifteen hundred years
past, and we shall prove that the order of the Church,
set out at present in this realm by act of parliament,
is the same that was used in the church fifteen hun-
dred years past, and so shall they never be able to prove
theirs.''
CRANMER. 287
Cranmer's enemies, thougli determined on his death,
found it difficult to deal with him as they wished. If he
were tried for high treason, some awkward revelations
might be made respecting persons then in favour. He
had moreover various claims upon the royal clemency.
But this declaration, though not intended for publication,
having been freely circulated, offered them a pretext for
treating him with severity. It was deemed " convenient"'
by the Queen's council, to commit him to the Tower,
'' as well for the treason committed by him against the
Queen's majesty, as for the aggravating the same his
offence, by spreading about seditious bills, moving tumults
and disquieting the present state,"
In the middle of November, Archbishop Cranmer was
attainted by the parliament, and adjudged guilty of high-
treason, at Guildhall. His see was hereupon declared
void; and on the 10th of December, the dean and chap-
ter of Canterbury gave commissions to several persons, to
exercise archi-episcopal jurisdiction, in their name, and
by their authority. The archbishop wrote a very submis-
sive letter to the Queen, in the most humble manner
acknowledging his fault in consenting to sign the King s
will ; acquainting her what pressing instances he made to
the King against it ; and excusing his fault by his being
over-ruled by the authority of the judges and lawyers,
who, he thought, understood the constitution better than
he did himsel". The Queen had pardoned so many
already, who were far more deeply engaged in the Lady
Jane's usurpation, that Cranmer could not for shame be
denied; so he was forgiven the treason; but orders were
given to proceed against him for heresy.
The Tower being full of prisoners. Archbishop Cranmer,
Bishop Ridley, Latimer, and Bradford, were all put into
one chamber, which they w^ere so far from thinking an in-
C!)nvenience, that on the contrary, they blessed (jod for
the opportunity of conversing together, reading and com-
l)aring the Scriptures, confirming themselves in the true
288 CRANMER.
faith, and mutually exhorting each other to constancy in
professing it, and patience in suffering for it.
In April, 1554, the Archbishop, with Bishop Ridley,
and Bishop Latimer, were removed from the Tower to
Windsor, and from thence to Oxford, to dispute with
some select persons of both universities.
In the meantime the convocation had been holden .
and partly because it was carefully packed, partly from the
reaction in men's minds occasioned by the excesses of the
reforming party in the reign of Edward VI., almost all
that had been done in the preceding convocations w^as
reversed. But there was a small body of good men and
true headed by Philpot, w4io defended the reformation,
and a discussion on the Holy Sacrament ensued w^hich
lasted for six days, when the debate ended amidst great
confusion in the lower house, Weston the prolocutor
exclaiming, "It is not the Queen's pleasure that we
should spend any longer time in these debates, and ye
are well enough already, for ye have the word, and we have
the sword."
The report of these proceedings did so much damage to
the Romish cause from their manifest unfairness, that it
was determined to have another discussion at which the
Archbishop, and Bishops Ridley and Latimer, might be
present. Oxford was the place appointed, to which uni-
versity the Archbishop and his fellow prisoners, as has
been before stated, were already removed. The Queen
sent her precept to bring the three prisoners into the
schools at the times appointed for disputation.
The articles, or questions of disputation, were three :
1. Whether the natural body of Christ be really in the
sacrament or not, after the words of consecration are spoken
by the priest ? Q. Whether in the sacrament, after the
words of consecration, any other substance remains, ex-
cept the Body and Blood of Christ? 3. Whether in the
mass there is a propitiatory sacrijSce for the sins of the
living and the dead ?
CRANMER. 289
The proceedings were opened with great state and
solemnity, and, as a preliminary step, the questions being
reduced into the form of articles, were subscribed by all
the members of the committee who had not before sub-
scribed them, either at London or Cambridge. The com-
missioners held their first session in the choir of St. Mary's
Church, and were seated before the altar, '* to the number
of thirty- three persons," Weston, the prolocutor of the
convocation, being the president. Cranmer was the first
of the prisoners introduced into this assembly, in custody
of the mayor, and in the habit of a doctor. He stood
before the commissioners with his staff in his hand, and
declined to accept the seat which was ojBfered to him. The
prolocutor, stationed in the midst of the assembly, began
with a short preface or speech in praise of Christian unity,
and then directed his discourse to Cranmer. He stated,
that the prisoner had been educated in the true Catholic
faith, but that of late years he had separated himself
from it, by teaching erroneous doctrines, and by setting
forth every year a new system. For this reason, the
Queen had sent himself and his colleagues, to bring back
the heretic to the fold of Christ. Weston then exhibited
the three articles which had been already subscribed by
the convocation, to which he demanded the assent and
subscription of Cranmer.
The Archbishop replied to this address with a gravity
and persuasive modesty which drew tears from many in
the assembly. He observed, that no man was so desirous
of unity as himself; but it must be an unity in Christ,
and founded in the truth. Having read the articles three
or four times, he desired an explanation of a term in the
first article, what was meant by "the true and natural
body of Christ," whether an organical or sensible body
was intended? He was answered, though not without
confusion and disagreement among the different speakers,
that it meant the same body which was born of the Virgin.
On receiving this answer, he said that he was prepared to
VOL. IV. 3f
290 CRxlNMER.
maintain the negative of all the questions, that they were
false and against God's holy word, and if agreement in
them were the conditions of unity, he must reject com-
munion. The deportment of the Archbishop was con-
ciliatory, and gained general commendation, and he was
dismissed, after a day had been assigned to him for
disputation.
Ridley and Latimer were next brought in. — (See their
Lives.) — The disputation took place at the time appointed,
and was continued on three successive days. Cranmer
had the precedence, and on the first day was conducted
to the respondent's seat in the divinity school, but still
under the custody of the mayor. The prolocutor opened
the disputation with a customary speech, but committed a
blunder which raised the mirth of the audience. Having
discovered his error, he corrected it, and proceeded to say
that it was not lawful to call in question the doctrine of
the corporeal presence, since it was taught by the express
words of Christ Himself, and to doubt the truth of the
Scriptures was the same as to doubt the truth and power
of God.
To this exordium Cranmer, having first obtained
license, answered, that the purpose of their meeting was
to discuss a question which was doubtful, and therefore
a fit subject of disputation ; but the prolocutor had
affirmed it to be a certain truth, and if so, it was an
unfit matter of discussion. It was, therefore, contrary to
reason to dispute concerning a question which the moder-
ator had predetermined, and if it regarded an incon-
trovertible truth, to expect its confutation from him was
absurd.
The disputation continued from the morning till
past noon, but in a disorderly manner, and with many
interruptions. It was carried on sometimes in English,
and sometimes in Latin. Of Cranfliier's opponents,
Yonge, the Vice-chancellor of Cambridge, was esteemed
the most able ; but three hours had elapsed before
CRANMER. 291
the confusion permitted him to bear a part in the
argument.
To dilate on the metaphysical arguments involved in
the two first questions would be needless; but on the last,
concerning the propitiatory sacrifice in the mass, Cranmer
was fully of opinion that to hold its afiirmative was dero-
gatory to the sacrifice on the cross. If the passion of
Christ were sufiicient for all the purposes of redemption,
where was the necessity of any other? The necessity
of any succeeding supplemental oblations supposed the
sacrifice of Christ to be defective ; and there could be
no sacrifice under the Christian dispensation, except that
of praise and thanksgiving, repentance, and works of
charity.
The manner in which the disputation was termin-
ated by the prolocutor may readily be anticipated :
" Thus you see, brethren, the truth steadfast and in-
vincible ; you see also the craft and deceit of heretics ;
the truth may be pressed, but cannot be oppressed :
therefore cry altogether, Vincit veeitas, the truth over-
COMETH."
Two days after the disputation had ended, the three
prisoners were once more brought before the delegates at
St. Mary's church, and required to subscribe the articles.
Weston having taunted Cranmer in particular with his
failure in disputation, the Archbishop replied, that he was
overborne by numbers and clamour, but that his opinion
was unchanged, and that he persisted in his refusal to
subscribe. Ridley and Latimer gave a similar reply, and
then a sentence of condemnation was read, in which they
were denounced as heretics and favourers of heresy. Being
asked whether they would return to the bosom of the
church, while the sentence was reading, they severally
appealed to heaven, not doubting that, though ejected from
the Romish church, their names were enrolled in the
blessed society above.
A year elapsed during which Cranmer remained a
29.2 CRANMER.
prisoner at Oxford ; the decision of the judges being that
the court, by which he, and his " concaptives," had been
condemned as heretics, had no authority to pronounce
sentence. At length the papal authority being again
established in England, the Bishops of Lincoln, Gloucester,
and Bristol, having received a special commission from
the pope, and a license from the King and Queen, repaired
to Oxford. These prelates had authority to receive Cran-
mer, Ridley, and Latimer into the bosom of the church,
in case they recanted their heretical errors ; but in case of
contumacy, had authority to degrade them from their
spiritual functions, and to deliver them for punishment to
the secular power.
The Bishop of Gloucester presided in the process
against Cranmer, acting as sub-delegate to the cardinal
de Puteo ; but in the process against Ridley and Latimer,
the Bishop of Lincoln presided, acting as the repre-
sentative of Cardinal Pole. Cranmer was first cited
to appear before the commissioners, and the place of
their session was the choir of St. Mary's church. On
the right hand of the president was seated Martin,
and on his left hand Storey, two doctors of civil law, and
attending as commissioners in behalf of the King and
Queen.
The Archbishop having been brought before the com-
missioners, under the custody of the mayor, was cited to
answer certain accusations of blasphemy, incontinence,
and heresy. On his first appearance, being habited as a
doctor in divinity, and having taken a survey of those
who constituted his judges, he acknowledged, by outward
marks of reverence, the commissioners of the King and
Queen ; but on being admonished to show a similar
mark of respect to the delegate of the pope, he answered,
that he had taken a solemn oath never to admit the
authority of the pope within the realm of England.
This oath he intended, by the grace of God to keep, and
would never consent, by any sign or token, to acknow-
CRANMER. 203
ledge the papal jurisdiction. By this refusal he disclaimed
any personal offence to the bishop, whom he would have
honoured as well as the others, if he had the same
commission.
The Archbishop defended himself calmly, but firmly,
against the charges brought against him by the president
and others, disclaiming the authority of the pope, and the
process was terminated by a citation of the Archbishop
to Rome within fourscore days, to make his personal
answers to the articles exhibited against him. The Arch-
bishop said he would willingly go with the permission of
the King and Queen ; but he was immediately remanded
to his prison.
In October, 1555, the Archbishop witnessed the mar-
tyrdom of his holy friends Ridley and Latimer from
the Tower of his prison, and on his knees prayed that
the divine strength might not fail them in their last
agonies.
When the eighty days were expired, which the citation
had allowed for the appearance of Cranmer at Rome,
cardinal Puteo moved in consistory his accusations against
the Archbishop of Canterbury ; in consequence of which,
in a subsequent session of the court, he was sentenced to
be excommunicated and deprived ; and at a third session,
the administration of the see thus vacated was conferred
on cardinal Pole.
As soon as the definitive sentence was received in
England, Cranmer was cited before certain commissioners,
of whom the chief were Bonner, Bishop of London, and
Thirlby, Bishop of Ely, who were invested with full powers
to degrade him, and then to deliver him to the secular
power. The place chosen for the execution of the defini-
tive sentence was the choir of the cathedral of Christ
Church in Oxford. When Cranmer was brought before
c<.)uit, the commission was read, stating that Thomas
Cranmer, late Archbishop of Canterbury, had been cited
to appear at Rome ; that he had wilfully disobeyed the
2f a
294 CRANMER
citation ; that articles had been exhibited ; that evidence
had been heard and examined ; that he had wanted
nothing appertaining to his necessary defence ; and that,
in consequence of his refusal to appear, he had been pro-
nounced contumacious. On hearing this statement read,
Cranmer could not forbear to exclaim, " God must needs
punish such open and shameless lying, that I, being in
prison, and not suffered even at home to have counsel
or advocate, should produce vritnesses and appoint my
counsel at Rome !"
When the commission had been read, the court pro-
ceeded to his degradation. He was clothed in the robes
of an Archbishop, wth the distinguishing appendage of
the pall, but the robes were of canvas : a mitre was placed
on his head, and a crosier in his hand. Bonner and
Thirlby then performed the ceremony of degradation ; the
one wdth the most bitter invectives and savage exultation,
the other with expressions of heartfelt sorrow. When they
attempted to take the crosier from his hand, he held it
fast, and refused to deliver it ; and he pulled from under
his sleeve a paper, w^hich he presented to the commis-
sioners, saying at the same time, ** I appeal to the next
general council ; and herein I have comprehended my
cause and form of it ; which appeal I desire may be ad-
mitted.'' The appeal being handed to the commissioners,
the Bishop of Ely said, that their commission precluded
all appeal, and therefore none could be admitted. "Then,"
replied Cranmer, " you do me the more wrong ; for my
case is not a common case : the matter is between the
pope and me immediately, and none other, and no man
ought to be a judge in his own cause." The Bishop of
Ely then received the appeal, and promised that it should
be admitted if possible. When they came to take off his
pall, he said, " Which of you hath a pall, to take off
mine ?" One of them answered that, in respect of their
being only bishops, they were his inferiors, and therefore
not competent to degrade him : but as they were the dele-
CRANMER. 295
gates of the pope, they had an authority above that of a
metropolitan.
After this pageant of degradation, Cranmer was clothed
in a squalid garb, and consigned to the common prison,
there to remain till the secular power executed the sen-
tence of the ecclesiastical court. Yet, before the tragical
catastrophe, he was appointed to sustain a trial more
severe than any which he had yet encountered ; for it was
a trial under which he fell.
To the Romanists, as well as to poor Cranmer himself,
the concluding scene of the Archbishop's life was discredi-
table in the extreme. By the most disgraceful arts, by an
appeal to his fears, his self-indulgence, and his weakness,
the Romish party cajoled the Archbishop into a recanta-
tion. Historians dispute as to the degree of his guilt,
and the number of his recantations : it is sufficient to
know, that by the meanest of artifices, the Romish
party induced the Archbishop to recant, and then, with
unparalelled baseness, led him forth to execution. Cran-
mer, though morally weak, was not deficient in moral
courage ; and when he found that die he must, he died
manfully.
His recantations were published, as soon as signed, by
Bonner, with malicious eagerness and joy ; and Cole,
Provost of Eton, (see his Life,) was sent to announce
to him his fate, and to preach the sermon.
Cole, having received his instructions, repaired to
Oxford, and the day before the execution visited Cran-
mer in his prison, to interrogate him whether he still
continued steadfast in the catholic faith ? Cramner
replied, that he trusted by God's grace to be daily
more and more confirmed in that faith. On the
morning of the execution, Cole again visited him, to
inquire whether he had any money ? finding that he had
none, Cole gave him fifteen crowns to distribute to
the poor.
No direct intimation was given to Cranmer that he
296 CRANMER.
was about to suffer; but these circumstances excited
his suspicions, and they were confirmed by the visit
of John de Garcina. The Spanish friar brought some
written articles, which he desired Cranmer to sign, and
to repeat before the people. To this request Cranmer
acceded, but secretly deposited in his bosom another
paper, containing a prayer, an exhortation, and a con-
fession of faith, " such as flowed from his conscience, and
not from his fears."
On the 21st of March, 1566, he was led with much
ceremony to St. Mary's church. On reaching the church-
door the choir sang the Nunc Dimittis, and the Arch-
bishop was led to a raised platform. His apparel was
of the meanest description, but a long white beard ren-
dered his aspect venerable, and on his countenance
was plainly marked an expression of deepest sorrow.
Having fallen on his knees, he continued for some time
absorbed in mental prayer. The crowd around him
wept. Cole ascended the pulpit ; — (for an account of
his sermon see his Life.) — During its delivery the vener-
able Archbishop expressed the deepest emotion, some-
times lifting up his eyes to Heaven, and sometimes
fixing them on the ground. There seems to have ex-
isted no doubt on the mind of Cole and his party
that the recantations of Cranmer had been made in
sincerity. Having in his sermon declared that he must
be executed, he called upon the people about to depart, to
hear the confession which the dying penitent was about
to make.
The Archbishop rose. He took off his cap. He began
to address the people. He first read his prayer, being a
supplication for mercy and support in his approaching
trial. He then admonished the hearers not to set their
affections on the things of this world ; to obey the King
and Queen from conscience towards God; to live in
mutual love and charity. He then came, as he said, to
the conclusion of his life, on which depended all his past
CRANMER. 297
life, as well as that which was to come, being now either
to enter into the joys of heaven or to suffer the pains of
hell. The present was no time for dissimulation, and he
was therefore now about to make a true declaration of his
faith. Having repeated the Apostles' creed, and professed
his belief in the holy Scriptures, he came to a point which,
he said, pressed on his conscience more than any other
action of his whole life, and this was his subscription to a
declaration contrary to truth. It was made through fear
of death, and with the hope of saving his life ; but it was
contrary to the thought of his heart. Now, therefore, when
he was about to die, he utterly renounced " all such bills
and papers" as he had written or signed since his degra-
dation, and because his hand had offended by writing
contrary to his heart, that hand should be signally
punished, for when he came to the fire it should be first
burned. The pope he rejected as antichrist, with all the
false doctrines of popery ; and as to the sacrament, he re-
tained the same belief as he had when he wrote his book
against the Bishop of Winchester. The true doctrine
would stand at the last day before the judgment of God,
where the papistical doctrine contrary to it would be
ashamed to show its face.
When the audience heard this unexpected declaration,
a general confusion took place : some began to charge him
with his recantation, and to accuse him of falsehood, and
admonishing him to dissemble no longer. He replied,
that he had ever loved simplicity, and throughout his life
had hated dissimulation. He would have gone on in his
discourse, but was prevented by an universal clamour,
and Cole exclaimed, " Stop the mouth of the heretic, and
take him away !" He was then dragged from the stage
on which he was elevated, and was led to the same spot
where Ridley and Latimer had not long before resigned
their lives. All the way from the church to the place
of execution, the friars continued to utter the severest
reproaches, and the most dreadful threats of eternal
vengeance.
298 CRANMER.
The venerable prelate maintained his fortitude to the
last. He looked cheerfuHy and benignly on all around,
shook several persons kindly by the hand, and put off his
garments with alacrity. His venerable appearance even
attracted the notice of his enemies. Fire being applied
to the pile, he stretched his right hand over it, and never
moved it, save once, when he passed it over his face, until
it was entirely consumed, and before the fire had reached
his body it was reduced to ashes. " This hand hath
offended, this unworthy right hand," was his frequent
ejaculation during his agony. His miseries were soon
over ; and his last words were. Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit.
Such was the end of Thomas Cranmer, Lord Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, on the 21st of March, 1556, in
his 67th year. Whether his death was or was not
a martyrdom, like that of Eidley and Latimer, is a dis-
puted point. To save his life he recanted ; and it was
not till he found his recantation to have been made
in vain, that he bore witness to his real opinions. This
would not have been considered martyrdom in the
primitive Church. Nevertheless his end was heroic :
we execrate the cruelty of his persecutors ; and who does
not sympathize with, while he censures his weakness ?
He was, indeed, a man much to be honoured ; though
weak, self-indulgent, and worldly, he was gentle, affec-
tionate, kind, and devout. In many respects the Church
of England is indebted to him; and although, when
we approach his history, we wish that Edward the
Sixth had possessed an ecclesiastical adviser of firmer
principles and more decided character, we cannot but
bear in mind, that such a character could not have
lived through the reign of Henry the Eighth. Among
our archbishops, if Cranmer does not rank among the
best, or the greatest, he still holds a very high place. —
Collier. Strype. Burnet. Todd. Dowries. Soames. Car-
withen. Le Bos.
CRELLIUS. 299
CRELLIUS, JOHN.
John Ceellius was born in Franconia, in 1590, and
studied at Nurenberg, and in otber German universities.
He was educated a Lutheran, but in the exercise of his
private judgment, thought Socinus to be more scriptural
than Luther, and contemning all reference to antiquity,
with the Bible, and the Bible only in his hand, he
became a Socinian. In 1612 he went to Racow, where
he was at first a preacher, and then Bector of the Univer-
sity. His works form a considerable part of the works of
the Fratres Poloni. His conduct to Grotius was very
unjustifiable. Grotius having written against Socinus,
Crellius endeavoured to vindicate his master, and did so
in such terms of civility, that Grotius wrote to him two
letters, perhaps too courteous and kind : he had not been
accustomed to meet with kindness from his opponents,
and his heart melted. These Crellius shewed about,
and so caused an impression to be made on the public
mind that the illustrious Grotius favoured Socinianism.
Even extracts of these letters were printed. He pro-
tested against the abuse made of them, and maintained
that if people would candidly read his works, they would
easily be convinced of the injustice of ranking him with
Socinians.
It is certain that, notwithstanding the terms which he
makes use of in writing to Crellius, he did not approve of
his book : he writes thus in confidence to his brother, " I
have read Crellius 's book : he writes with candour, and
doth not want learning ; but I cannot see how he will pro-
mote religion by departing from the Scripture manner of
speaking authorised by autiquity.
" If I have not answered Crellius," he says in another
letter, "it was for prudential reasons, and even by the
advice of the protestants of France, who think that the
questions being unknown in this countiy, ought not
to be made public by a confutation. It is easy to
300 CRESSY.
refute them with glory, though every one is not capable
of it : but it is still better that they should remain un-
known." He speaks in the same letter, of Socinus as
a man very little versed in the sentiments of anti-
quity, and whose errors he had confuted in many of his
works.
Crellius died in 1632. General Diet. Bourignys
Grotius.
CEESSY, OR CRESSEY, HUGH PAULIN, OR SERENUS.
Hugh Paulin Cressy, a popish divine, was born at
Wakefield in Yorkshire, in 1605, and educated at Merton
College, Oxford, where he took his degree in arts, and
became fellow. Having entered into orders he became
chaplain to Lord Falkland, whom he accompanied to
Ireland, and obtained the deanery of Leighlin, to which
was added afterwards a canonry of Windsor. But throu^.^h
disturbances of the times he never attained the possession
of either of these preferments. This led him to despair
of the fortunes of the Church of England, and being at
Rome in 1644, in the capacity of tutor to Mr. Bertie,
afterwards Earl of Falmouth, he apostatized to the Church
of Rome. He next entered among the Benedictines at
Douay, on which occasion he took the name of Serenus.
At the Restoration he returned to England, and became
chaplain to the Queen of Charles II. He died at East
Grinstead, in Sussex, in 1674.
The work on which he bestowed his chief attention was
the Church History of Brittany, from the beginning of
the Norman Conquest, under Roman governors, British
kings, the English- Saxon heptarchy, the English- Saxon
and Danish monarchy, &c., 1668, folio. Of this work
only one volume was published ; the second, in which he
meant to bring down the history to the dissolution of
monasteries, was left incomplete at his death.
CREWE. 301
CEEWE, NATHANIEL.
Nathaniel Crewe, the fifth son of John, Lord
Crewe, was born at Stean, in Northamptonshire, in 1633,
and succeeded to the title of Lord Crewe on the death of
t his brother, in 1691. He was educated at Lincoln Col-
^ lege, Oxford, of which he became fellow and rector. He
was chosen proctor of the university in 1663, afterwards
clerk of the closet to Charles II., Dean of Chichester,
Bishop of Oxford in 1671, and three years after was
translated to Durham. On the accession of James II. he
was admitted of the privy council, and showed himself
very friendly to all the measures of the court, in religion
and in politics. He paid particular respect to the pope s
nuncio when he came to London, and refused to introduce
Dean Patrick to the King, because he was too zealous
against popery.
Bishop Crewe was also on the ecclesiastical com-
mission before which Bishop Compton was summoned,
^ against whom he took an active part. — (See Life of Comp-
ton.)— He seems to have been a weak, rather than a
wicked man; grateful to James for the favours he had
conferred upon him, and acting as a partizan. But he
seems himself to have become alarmed at length at the
violence of King James's government. He withdrew from
the King's councils, and upon the abdication he expressed
a wish to resign his ecclesiastical dignities to Dr. Burnet,
with an allowance of £1000 for life. He afterwards left
his retirement, and appeared in parliament; but his name
was excepted from the act of indemnity of 1690. His
pardon, however, was at last procured by the intercession
of his friends. He died in 1721. He was princely in
'^his benefactions, particularly to Lincoln College. He
bequeathed £200 a year to the university of Oxford for
general purposes ; and the expense of the Encoenia is
partly defrayed by a sum of money originally left by
him. — Life of Lord Crewe, 1790.
VOL. lY. 2g
J02 CRISP.
CEEYGHTON, EOBEET,
Robert Creyghton was born of an ancient family at
Dunkeld, in Scotland, in 1593, and was educated at
Westminster School, whence, in 1613, he was elected to
Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was chosen Greek
professor, and university orator. In 103:3 he was made
treasurer of the cathedral of Wells, and was also canon
residentiary, prebendary of Taunton, and had a living in
Somersetshire. In the begiDning of the rebellion he
joined the King's troops at Oxford ; but he was obliged
afterwards to flee into Cornwall, whence he followed
Charles II. abroad, who made him his chaplain, and
bestowed on him the deanery of Wells. He was accounted
a man of much learning, and in the discharge of his duty
as a preacher, reproved the vices of the court with great
boldness. In 1670 he was promoted to the bishopric of
Bath and Wells. He died in 1672. His only publica-
tion was a translation into Latin of Sylvester Syguropolus's
History of the Council of Florence, Hague 1660, folio. —
Salmons Lives of English Bisliops. Wood. Barwick'&
Life.
CRISP, TOBIAS.
Tobias Crisp was born in London, in 1600, and was
educated at Eton, whence he went to Cambridge. In
16-27 he was presented to the living of Newington Butts,
near Southwark ; but as it was proved that he had been
guilty of Simony, he was removed from it in the course of
a few months. He obtained, however, which he ought
not to have done, the rectory of Brinkworth, in Wiltshire,
the same year. He became a puritan and a rebel. But
among the puritans he caused a division by his furious
manner of maintaining the doctrines of Anti-nomianism.
He died February 27, 1642, of the small pox. After his
death his sermons were pubhshed in 3 vols. 4to, and the
CROFT. 803
Westminster Assembly proposed to have them burnt; the
assembly of puritans thus following the example of the
pope of Rome. Flavel and other puritans were very
vehement in taking the beam out of their brother's eye,
and a warm controversy ensued, which was renewed with
increased vehemence, when the sermons were republished
about the time of the Revolution. It disturbed the har-
mony of the weekly lecture established at Pinners Hall,
the followers of Crisp establishing a lecture at Salters
Hall. — Wood. Bogiie,
CEOFT, HERBERT.
Herbert Croft was born at Great Milton, Oxfordshire,
in 1603. He was sent early to Christ Church, Oxford :
but upon the perversion of his father to popery, he was
removed from the university, and placed at Douay, and
afterwards at St. Omer's. A visit to England, on family
laifairs, introduced him to the acquaintance of Morton,
Bishop of Durham, and Archbishop Laud. Croft is
another instance out of the many which exist, of Arch-
bishop Laud's zeal in converting men from Romanism ;
through the instrumentality of these prelates, he was
reconciled to the Church of England, and returned to
Christ Church. He was preferred to a living in Glouces-
tershire, and to another in Oxfordshire, and, in 1639, he
was made prebendary of Salisbury. He was afterwards
prebendary of Worcester, canon of Windsor, and, in 1644,
dean of Hereford. At the Restoration he was raised to
the see of Hereford, in 1661, which he refused to quit for
higher preferment. His small treatise, entitled The
Naked Truth, or the true State of the Primitive Church,
printed at a private press, was published in 16T5, when
the papists hoped to take advantage of the quarrels of the
non-conformists with the Church of England, and from its
latitudinarian views it became a pojDular work, which not
only drew the attention of parliament to the subject, but
304 CEOXALL.
produced some severe attacks against it. One of these,
by Dr Turner, of St. John's College, Cambridge, was
answered by Andrew Marvell, who applauded the Bishop's
works, and, as might be supposed, defended his principles.
Besides this, he published some occasional sermons,
religious tracts, a legacy to his diocese, and, in 1685,
Animadversions on Burnet's Theory of the Earth. In
the latter part of his life he wished to resign his bishopric
from some scruples of conscience. He died in 1691. —
Wood. Salmons Lives of the Bishojjs.
CKOIUS, OE DE CROI, JOHN.
John Crohjs, a protestant minister, was born at Usez,
where he became a minister, and died in 1659. He wrote
a defence of the Genevan Confession of Faith, 1645, 8vo,
and Augustin Suppose, &c., in which he attempted to
prove that the four books on the creed in St. Augustine's
works are not the production of that author. He also
wrote Specimen Conjecturarum in qusedam Origenis,
Irenaei, et Tertulliani Loca, 1632; and Observationes
Sacrae et Historic^ in Nov. Test, chiefly against Heinsius,
lQ4:i.—Gen. Diet.
CROXALL, SAMUEL.
Samuel Croxall was born at Walton-upon- Thames, in
Surrey, and educated at Eton school, from whence he
removed to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he
wrote the Fair Circassian, a poem, which is a licentious
imitation of Solomon's Song. On entering into orders he
obtained the living of Hampton, in Middlesex, several pre-
ferments in Hereford cathedral, and the united livings of
St. Mary, Somerset, and St. Mary Mounthaw, London.
He died in 1752. Dr. Croxall was a strenuous whig, and
wrote a book called Scripture Politics. He also published
CUDWORTH. 305
a popular edition of ^sop's Fables, and wrote some
poems ; besides which, his name was affixed to a collection
of novels, in 6 vols. l^mo. — Biog. Brit.
CUDWOETH, RALPH,
Ralph Cudworth was born at Aller, in Somersetshire,
in 1617, of which place his father was rector. Going to
Cambridge, he in due course became fellow and tutor of
Emanuel College. In 1(541 he was presented to the living
of North Cadbury, in Somersetshire. He first appeared
as an author by the publication (in 1642) of his discourse
concerning " The True Notion of the Lord's Supper."
His notion is this, that the Eucharist, considered in its
spiritual and mystical view, is a Feast upon a Sacrifice.
viz : the sacrifice once offered upon the cross, having
some analogy to the Jewish sacrificial feasts, which were
figures or shadows of this true spiritual feeding; for as
those were banquets upon typical sacrifices, so this is a
banquet upon the real sacrifice to which they pointed ;
and as those banquets were federal directly with respect
to the legal covenant, so is this banquet federal with re-
spect to the Evangelical Covenant, formerly couched under
the legal one.
In the same year he published his treatise, entitled
" The Union of Christ and the Church Shadowed."
In the year 1644 he took the degree of bachelor of
divinity, upon which occasion he maintained at the com-
mencement the two following theses :
1. Dantur boni et mali rationes seternse & indispensa-
biles ; that is, the reasons of good and evil are eternal and
indispensable.
2. Dantur substantias corporae sua natura immortales :
that is, there are incorporeal substances by their own
nature immortal.
It appears from these questions, that he was even at
2g2
306 CUDWORTH.
that time examining and revolving in his mind those
important subjects, which he so long afterwards cleared
up with such uncommon penetration in his Intellectual
System, and other works still preserved in manuscript.
In the same year (1644) he was appointed master of
Clare Hall, in Cambridge, in the room of Dr. Paske, who
had been ejected by the parliamentary visitors. In 1645,
Dr. Metcalf, having resigned the regius professorship of
the Hebrew tongues, Mr. Cud worth was unanimously
nominated on the 1 5th of October, by the seven electors,
to succeed him. From this time he abandoned all the
functions of a minister, and applied himself only to his
academical employments and studies, especially to that
of the Jewish antiquities. On the '31st of March, 1647,
he preached before the house of commons at Westminster,
upon a day of public humiliation, a sermon upon I John
ii. 3, 4, for which he had the thanks of that house return-
ed him the same day.
In 1654 he was elected master of Christ's College. He
was, in 1657, one of those who were consulted by parlia-
ment about the English translation of the Bible, and by
his learning he gained the friendship of Whitelocke, and
of Thurlow. To the latter he wrote an account of his
design to publish some Latin discourses in defence of
Christianity, against Judaism. Part of this design, a
discourse concerning Daniels Prophecy of the Seventy
Weeks, which was read in the public schools of Cambridge,
is highly commended by Henry More, in the preface to
jjis Grand Mystery of Godliness. " In this work," ob-
serves More, " Dr. Cudworth has undeceived the world,
misled too long by the over-great opinion they had of
Joseph Scaliger, and has demonstrated the manifestation
of the Messiah to have fallen out at the end of the sixty-
ninth week, and his passion in the midst of the last ;
W'hich demonstration of his is, in my apprehension, of as
much price and worth in theology, as either the circula-
tion of the blood in physic, or the motion of the earth in
natural philosophy."
CUDWORTH. 307
In 1662 he was presented by Sheldon, Bishop of Loq-
doD, to the vicarage of Ashwell, in Hertfordshire. In
1678 he was installed prebendary of Gloucester, and he
then published in folio his famous work, " The True
Intellectual System of the Universe ; wherein the reason
and philosophy of Atheism are confuted, and its impossi-
bility demonstrated."
" He lived," says Bishop Chandler, " in an age when
the disputes concerning liberty and necessity, mingling
with the political scheme of the leaders of opposite parties,
helped to cause strong convulsions in the state, and to
spread no less fatal an influence upon the principles and
manners of the generality of people. For debauchery,
scepticism, and infidelity, as he complains, flourished in
his time, and grew up, in his opinion, from the doctrine
of the fatal necessity of all actions and events, as from its
proper root.
•' These sentiments disposed him to bend much of his
study this way, and to read over all the ancient philoso-
phers and moralists with great accuracy. He then set
himself to gather and answer all the ancient and modern
arguments for the necessity of all actions, which had
been maintained by several persons, upon very diflerent
grounds.
" He accordingly distinguished three sorts of fatality.
First, natural or material, which, excluding God out of
the scheme, and supposing senseless matter, necessarily
moved, to be the first principle and cause of all things, is
truly and properly the atheistical fate. This he found
defended by Epicurus ; and to refute him and the other
assertors of the atomic material necessity, he published
his learned and unanswerable book, which he entitled,
The Iniellectual System of the Universe. Secondly, theo-
logic or Divine fate, which, indeed, allows in words the
existence of that perfect intellectual Being, distinct from
matter, whom we call God ; yet, affirming that God irre-
spectively decrees and determines all things, evil as well
as good, doth in effect make all actions alike necessary to
308 CUDWORTH.
us. In consequence whereof, God's will is not regulated
by His essential and immutable goodness and justice ;
God is a mere arbitrary will, omnipotent ; and, in respect
to us, moral good and evil are positive things, and not so
in their own nature: that is, things are good or bad
because they are commanded or forbidden, and that which
is now good might have been bad, and bad good, if the
pure will of God, at first, had not determined them to be
what they are at present. Thirdly, the Stoical fate, which
constrains also the natural and moral actions of the
universe, and makes necessity to be so intrinsical to the
nature of every thing, as that no being or action could
possibly be otherwise than it is. For all things, according
to this notion, depend in a chain of causes all in them-
selves necessary, from the first principle of being, who
pre-ordered every event before it fell out, so as to leave no
room to liberty or contingency anywhere in the world."
To overthrow this triple fortress of irreligion, was the
great design to which Cudworth dedicated his life.
Owing to his having imbibed his philosophy from
Platinus, and other disciples of the Platonic school, he in-
curred the charge, in this great work, of giving too much
countenance to the Arian hypothesis. It is most un-
warrantable and uncharitable, to accuse of intolerance and
bigotry, those who, at the first appearance of the work,
pointed out the learned author's error in these respects.
Surely they were as much justified in the zeal for the
truth as he in his zeal against atheism. But the author
was no Arian. His generous and candid mind, when
having a particular line of argument in view, made conces-
sions, from which conclusions were drawn, which he him-
self, by his whole system of divinity, repudiated. This
work, from its nature and importance, had many assailants,
and a warm dispute was raised in consequence between
the author and Le Clerc. The work was translated into
Latin, in 1733, by the learned Mosheim, and the original
was republished in 1743, in 2 vols. 4to, by Dr. Birch,
with large additions, and with an accurate statement of all
CUDWORTH. 309
the quotatioDS, and a life of the author by the editor.
Cudworth died at Cambridge in 1688, and was buried in
Christ's College chapel. Of his posthumous works, which
were a continuation of his Intellectual System, one was
published by Chandler, Bishop of Durham, in 1731,
called a Treatise concerning Eternal and Immutable
Morality, intended chiefly against Hobbes and others.
The following are the titles of the remaining MSS. as they
were found by Birch, when preparing his edition of the
Intellectual System, a hundred years ago :
1 . A Discourse of Moral Good and Evil, already men-
tioned.
2. Another book of Morality, against Hobbes's Philo-
sophy.
3. A Discourse of Liberty and Necessity, in which the
grounds of the Atheistical philosophy are confuted, and
Morality vindicated and explained.
4. Another work, De libero arbitrio.
5. On Daniel's Prophecy of the Seventy Weeks.
6. Of the Verity of the Christian Pteligion, against the
Jews.
7. A Discourse of the Creation of the World, and the
Immortality of the Soul.
8. Hebrew Learning.
9. An Examination of Hobbes's Notion of God, and of
the Extension of Spirits.
For some time longer these writings reposed quietly in
the library at Oates ; but about the year J 762 they were
sold by Lord Masham, as lumber, to a bookseller ; from
whose hands, after suffering many perils and mutilations,
they at length found their way to the British Museum.
The only public use made of them was by Dr. Dodd, who
ransacked them for notes to the Bible published with his
name, and inserted some other passages in the Christian
Magazine.
The first edition of the Intellectual System, we have
seen, was published in folio, in the year 1678.
In 1706 there was published in two volumes 4to, an
3i0 CUTHBERT.
abridgment of that work, under the title of a Confutation
of the Reason and Philosophy of Atheism, &c. By Thomas
Wise, B.D. — Birch. Chandler. Cattermoles Literature
of the Church of England.
CUECELL^US, STEPHEN.
Stephen Curcell^us was born at Geneva, in 1586.
After residing for some time in France, he settled at
Amsterdam, where he was followed by the Arminians, and
where he succeeded Episcopius as divinity professor. He
was an able critic and a great linguist, and wrote several
theological tracts. He published a new edition of the
Greek Testament, with various readings, and with a
copious dissertation. Polemburg, the successor of Curcel-
Iseus in the professor's chair, has prefixed an account of
his life to the folio edition of his works. He died at
Amsterdam in 1658. — Morerl.
CUTHBERT, SAINT.
This holy man of prayer was born in the North of
England, in the beginning of the sixth century. His
life was written by Bede, and it is a life well worthy
of an attentive perusal, though too long to be trans-
planted into this work. Ordinary facts and providences
are narrated with simplicity, and are supposed to be
miraculous, though the enlightened reader of the present
day will, while he admires the piety which traces every
thing to the divine interference, perceive nothing in the
facts, but what can be easily accounted for, and he will
of course dissent from the conclusions to which Bede
sometimes arrives. There is a great difference between
the lying legends of certain Romish saints, in which gross
falsehoods are told, and the narrative of Bede. Bede
states facts, which being received at second hand, are some-
CUTHBERT. 311
times a little coloured, but never iutentionally gives a
false account ; he mistakes an ordinary circumstance for a
miracle, and records as especially miraculous those curious
coincidences which occur in every man s life, but are only
" set in a note book," when they occur to some one who
has rendered himself eminent by his virtue or genius.
Bede heads his first chapter thus, " How Cuthbert the
child of God was warned by a child of his future bishopric."
Cuthbert was a fine high-spirited lad, " fond of jumping,
running, wrestling,"' and boasting that in bodily exercises
he could surpass boys older than himself.
Bede oberves that, " Divine Providence found from the
first a worthy preceptor to curb the sallies of his youthful
mind. For, as Trumwine of blessed memory told me on
the authority of Cuthbert himself, there were one day
some customary games going on in a field, and a large
number of boys were got together, amongst whom was
Cuthbert, and in the excitement of boyish whims, several
of them began to bend their bodies into various unnatural
forms. On a sudden, one of them, apparently about three
years old, runs up to Cuthbert, and in a firm tone
exhorted him not to indulge in idle play and follies, but
to cultivate the powers of his mind, as well as those of his
body. When Cuthbert made light of his advice, the boy
fell to the ground and shed tears bitterly. The rest run
up to console him, but he persists in weeping. They ask
him why he burst out crying so unexpectedly. At length
he made answer, and turning to Cuthbert, who was trying
to comfort him, ' Why,' said he, ' do you, holy Cuthbert,
priest and prelate ! give yourself up to these things which
are so opposite to your nature and rank ? It does not
become you to be playing among children, when the Lord
appointed you to be a teacher of virtue even to those who
are older than yourself.' Cuthbert, being a boy of a good
disposition, heard these words with evident attention, and
pac-ifying the crying child with affectionate caresses, imme-
diately abandoned his vain sports, and returning home,
beaan from that moment to exhibit an unusual decision
312 CUTHBERT.
both of mind and character, as if the same spirit which
had spoken outwardly to him by the mouth of the boy,
were now beginning to exert its influence inwardly in his
heart. Nor ought we to be surprised that the same God
can restrain the levity of a child by the mouth of a child,
who made even the dumb beast to speak, when he would
check the folly of the prophet : and truly it is said in his
honour, ' Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast
Thou perfected praise !" "
The reader will be struck with the beauty and the piety
of this passage, — he will concur in the general remarks.
Here was a curious coincidence ; but Bede and his friends
evidently magniiied it into a prophecy. It was what a
boy might be expected to say, when Bishops were more
thought of than now ; and with us the charm of the pas-
sage is, not in the child's prediction, but in the beautiful
way in which Cuthbert received the hint. We will take
the next chapter. " How he became lame with a swelling
in his knee, and was cured by an angel." " Because,"'
says Bede, " to every one who hath shall be given, and he
shall have abundance ; that is, to every one who hath the
determination and the love of virtue, shall be given, by
Divine Providence, an abundance of these things ; since
Cuthbert, the child of God, carefully retained in his mind
what he had received from the admonition of man, he vras
thought worthy also of being comforted by the company
and conversation of angels. For his knee was seized with
a sudden pain, and began to swell into a large tumour ;
the nerves of his thigh became contracted, and he was
obliged to walk lamely, dragging after him his diseased
leg, until at length the pain increased and he was unable
to walk at all. One day he had been carried out of doors
by the attendants, and was reclining in the open air,
when he suddenly saw at a distance a man on horseback
approaching, clothed in white garments, and honourable
to be looked upon, and the horse too on which he sat, was
of incomparable beauty. He drew near to Cuthbert, and
saluted him mildly, and asked him as in jest, whether he
CUTHBERT. 3]:^
had no civilities to shew to such a guest. ' Yes,' said the
other, ' I should be most ready to jump up and offer you
all the attention in my power, were I not, for my sins,
held bound by this infirmity : for I have long had this
painful swelling in ray knee, and no physician, v.ith all
his care, has yet been able to heal me.' The man, leaping
from his horse, began to look earnestly at the diseased
knee. Presently he said, ' Boil some wheaten flour in
milk, and apply the poultice warm to the swelling, and
you will be well.' Having said this, he again mounted
his horse and departed. Cuthbertdidas he was told, and
after a few days was well. He at once perceived that it
was an angel, who had given him the advice, and sent by
Him who formerly deigned to send His archangel Raphael
to restore the eyesight of Tobit. If any one think it in-
credible that an angel should appear on horseback, let
him read the history of the Maccabees, in which angels
are said to have come on horseback to the assistance of
Judas Maccabaeus, and to defend God"s own temple."
A good Samaritan rather than an angel appeared to
Cuthbert ; and the kind physician who prescribed a poul-
tice was exaggerated by the mind of the youth into an
angel. How very easily persons may thus exaggerate
details to themselves, those who are acquainted with the
uneducated or youthful mind are well aware. The fact
was as related ; the colouring was from the fancy. The
reader will see from this how legends originated. They
began in the simple piety of an age not yet corrupted by
the fictions of Rome ; and were carried on by designing
craft to impose upon credulous ignorance. The imagina-
tion of Cuthbert was very vivid, and in consequence of a
vision which he had the night on which Aidan, Bishop of
Lindisfarne, died, he determined to enter a monastery.
We have in the sixth chapter of Bede, an account of his
first entering into a monastery, in the circumstances
attending which the historian again imagines something
mysterious.
VOL. lY, '^ H
314 CUTHBERT.
"This reverend servant of God, abandoning worldly
things, hastens to submit to monastic discipline, having
been excited by his heavenly vision to covet the joys of
everlasting happiness, and invited by the food with which
God had supplied him to encounter hunger and thirst in
his service. He knew that the church of Lindisfarne con-
tained many holy men, by whose teaching and example
he might be instructed, but he was moved by the great
reputation of Boisil, a monk and priest of surpassing
merit, to choose for himself an abode in the abbey of
Melrose. And it happened by chance, that when he was
arrived there and had leaped from his horse, that he
might enter the church to pray, he gave his horse and
travelling-spear to a servant, for he had not yet resigned
the dress and habits of a lavman. Boisil was standing
before the doors of the monastery, and saw him first.
Foreseeing in spirit what an illustrious man the sti'anger
would become, he made this single remark to the by-
standers : ' Behold a servant of the Lord !' herein imitating
Him Who said of Nathaniel, when he approached Him,
' Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.'
I was told this by that veteran priest and servant of God,
the pious Sigfrid, for he was standing by when Boisil said
these words, and was at that time a youth studying the
first rudiments of the monastic life in that same monas-
tery ; but now he is a man, perfect in the Lord, living in
our monastery at Yarrow, and amid the last sighs of his
fainting body thirsting for a happy entrance into another
life. Boisil, without saying more, kindly received Cuth-
bert as he approached ; and when he had heard the cause
of his coming, namely, that he preferred the monastery to
the world, he kept him near himself, for he was the prior
of that same monastery.
" After a few days, when Eata, who was at that time
priest and abbot of the monastery, but afterwards Bishop
of Lindisfarne, was come, Boisil told him about Cuthbert,
how that he was a young man of a promising disposition,
CUTHBERT. 315
and obtained permission that he should receive the ton-
sure, and be enrolled among the brethren. When he had
thus entered the monasteiy, he conformed himself to the
rules of the place with the same zeal as the others, and,
indeed, sought to surpass them by observing stricter disci-
pliiie ; and in reading, working, watching, and praying,
he fairly outdid them all. Like the mighty Samson of
old, he carefully abstained from every drink which could
intoxicate ; but was not able to abstain equally from food,
lest his body might be thereby rendered less able to work :
for he was of a robust frame and of unimpaired strength,
and fit for any labour which he might be disposed to take
in hand."
Some years after it pleased King Alfred to grant to
Abbot Eata a certain tract of country called Inrhypum, in
which to build a monastery. The abbot in consequence
of this grant erected the intended building, and placed
therein certain of his brother monks, among whom was
Cuthbert, and appointed for them the same rules and
discipline which were observed at Melrose. He seems
himself to have imagined that he had angelic visions, and
doubtless he had communion with God so fervent as to
ravish his mind. Such things occur even now. " Notwith-
standing the fervour of his devotion," says Bede, " he was
affable and pleasant in his character ; and when he was
relating to the fathers the acts of their predecessors, as an
incentive to piety, he would introduce also, in the meekest
way, the spiritual benefits which the love of God had
conferred upon himself And this he took care to do in
a covert manner, as if it had happened to another person.
Plis hearers, how^ever, perceived that he was speaking of
himself, after the pattern of that master w^ho at one time
unfolds his own meiits without disguise, and at another
time says under the guise of another, ' I knew a man in
Christ fourteen years ago, who was carried up into the
third heaven.'"
But, continues Bede, in his usual strain of piety, " as
every thing in this world is frail and fluctuating, like the
316 CUTHBERT.
sea when a storm comes on, the above-named abbot Eata^
with Outhbert and the other brethren, were expelled from
their residence, and the monastery given to others. But
our worthy cliampion of Christ did not by reason of his
change of place relax his zeal in carrying on the spiritual
conflict which he had undertaken ; but he attended, as
he ever had done, to the precepts and example of the
blessed Boisil. About this time, according to his friend
Herefrid the priest, who was formerly abbot of the monas-
tery of Lindisfarne, he was seized with a pestilential dis-
ease, of which many inhabitants of Britain were at that
time sick. The brethren of the monastery passed the
whole night in prayer for his life and health; for they
thought it essential ta them that so pious a man should
be present with them in the flesh. They did this without
his knowing it ; and when they told him of it in the morn-
ing, he exclaimed, ' Then why am I lying here ? I did
not think it possible that God should have neglected your
prayers : give me my stick and shoes.' x\ccordingly, he
got out o-f bed, and tried to walk, leaning on. his stick, and
finding his strength gradually return, he was speedily
restored to health : but because the swelling on his thigh,
though it died away to all outward appearances, struck
into his inwards, he felt a little pain in his inside all his
life afterwards ; so that, as we find it expressed in the
Apostles, ' his strength was perfected in weakness.'
" When that servant of the Lord, Boisil, saw that Cuth-
bert was restored, he said, ' You see, my brother, how you
have recovered from your disease, and I assure yau it will
give you no farther trouble, nor are you likely to^ die at
present 1 advise you, inasmuch as death is waiting for
me, to learn from me all yew can whilst I am able to teach
you ; for I have only seven days longer to enjoy my health
of body, or to exercise the powers of my tongue.' Cuth-
bert implicitly believing what he heard, asked him what
he would advise him to begin to read, so as to be able to
finish it in seven days. 'John the Evangelist,' said Boisil.
' I have a copy containing seven quarto sheets : we cau„
CUTHBERT. 317
with God's help, read one every day, and meditate thereon
as far as we are able.' They did so accordingly, and speedily
accomplished the task ; for they sought therein only that
simple faith which operates by love, and did not trouble
themselves with minute and subtle questions. After their
seven days' study was completed, Boisil died of the above-
named complaint ; and after death entered into the joys
of eternal life."
After the death of Boisil, Cuthbert took upon himself
the duties of the office before mentioned ; and for many
years discharged them with the mo^t pious zeal, as became
a saint : for he not only furnished both precept and exam-
ple to his brethren of the monastery, but sought to lead
the minds of the neighbouring people to the love of hea-
venly things. Many of them, indeed, disgraced the faith
which they professed, by unholy deeds ; and some of them,
in the time of mortality, neglecting the sacrament of their
creed, had recourse to idolatrous remedies, as if by charms
or amulets, or any other mysteries of the magical art,
they were able to avert a stroke inflicted upon them by
the Lord. To correct these errors, he often went out
from the monastery, sometimes on horseback, sometimes
on foot, and preached the way of truth to the neighbouring
villages, as Boisil, his predecessor, had done before him.
It was at this time customary for the English people to
flock together when a clerk or priest entered a village, and
listen to what he said, that so they might learn something
from him, and amend their lives. Now Cuthbert was so
skilful in teaching, and so zealous in what he undertook,
that none dared to conceal from him their thoughts, but
all acknowledged what they had done amiss ; for they sup-
posed that it was impossible to escape his notice, and they
hoped to merit forgiveness by an honest confession. He
was mostly accustomed to travel to those villages which
lay in out of the way places among the mountains, which
by their poverty and natural horrors deterred other visitors.
Yet even here did his devoted mind find exercise for bis
•2n -2
818 CUTHBERT.
powers of teaching, insomuch that he often remained a
week, sometimes two or three, nay, even a whole month,
without returning home ; but dwelling among the moun-
tains, taught the poor people, both by the words of his
preaching, and also by his own holy conduct.
Whilst this venerable servant of the Lord was thus,
during many years, distinguishing himself by such signs
of spiritual excellence in the monastery of Melrose, its
reverend abbot, Eata, transferred him to the monastery in
the Island of Lindisfarne, that there also he might teach
the rules of monastic perfection with the authority of it&
governor, and illustrate it by the example of his virtue :
for the same reverend abbot had both monasteries under
his jurisdiction. And no one should wonder that, though
the island of Lindisfarne is small, we have above made
mention of a bishop, and now of an abbot and monks ; for
the case was really so. For the same island, inhabited by
servants of the Lord, contained both, and all were monks.
For Aidan, who was the first bishop of that place, was a
monk, and with all his followers lived according to the
monastic rule. Wherefore all the principals of that place
from him to the time of Bede, exercised the episcopal
office, so that, whilst the monastery was governed by the
abbot, whom they, with the consent of the brethren,
elected, all the priests, deacons, singers, readers, and
other ecclesiastical officers of different ranks, observed the
monastic rule in every respect, as well as the bishop
himself.
He was so zealous in watching and praying, that he
is believed to have sometimes passed three or four nights
together therein, during which time he neither went to
his own bed, nor had any accommodation from the brethren
for reposing himself. For he either passed the time
alone, praying in some retired spot, or singing and making
something with his hands, thus beguiling his sleepiness
by labour; or perhaps he walked round the island, dili-
gently exaijuinmg every thing therein, and by this exercise
CUTHBERT. 819
relieved the tediousness of psalmody and watching. Lastly,
he would reprove the faint-heartedness of the brethren,
who took it amiss if any one came and unseasonably im-
portuned tliem to awake at night, or during their afternoon
nups. "No one," said he, "can displease me by waking
me out of my sleep, but, on the contrary, give me plea-
sure ; for, by rousing me from inactivity, he enables me to
do or think of something useful." So devout and zealous
was he in his desire after heavenly things, that, whilst
officiating in the solemnity of the mass, he never could
come to the conclusion thereof without a plentiful shedding
of tears. But whilst he duly discharged the mysteries of
our Lord's passion, he would, in himself illustrate that in
which he was officiating; in contrition of heart he would
sacrifice himself to the Lord ; and whilst he exhorted the
slanders by to lift up their hearts and to give thanks unto
the Lord, his own heart vv-as lifted up rather than his
voice, and it was the spirit which groaned within him
rather than the note of singing. In his zeal for righteous-
ness he was fervid to correct sinners, he was gentle in the
spirit of .mildness to forgive the penitent, so that he would
often shed tears over those who confessed their sins,
])itying their weaknesses, and would himself point out by
his own righteous example what course the sinner should
pursue. He used vestments of the ordinary description,
neither noticeable for their too great neatness nor yet too
slovenly. Wherefore, even to Bede s day, it is not cus-
tomary in that monastery for any one to wear vestments
of a rich or valuable colour, but they were content with that
appearance which the natural wool of the sheep presents.
By these and such like spiritual exercises, this vene-
rable man both excited the good to follow his example,
and recalled the wicked and perverse from their errors to
regularity of life.
In the year 676 he retired to the secrecy of solitude
which he had so long coveted. He rejoiced that from the
long conversation with the world he was now thought wor-
thy to be pronjoted to retirement and divine contemplation:
3O0 CUTHBERT.
he rejoiced that he now could reach to the condition of
those of which it is simg by the Psalmist : "The holy shall
walk from virtue to virtue ; the God of Gods shall be seen
in Zion." At his first entrance upon the solitary life, ho
sought out the most retired spot in the outskirts of the
monastery. But when he had for some time contended
with the invisible adversary with prayer and fasting in
this solitude, he then, aiming at higher things, sought out
a more distant field for conflict, and more remote from
the eyes of men. There is a certain island called Fame,
in the middle of the sea, not made an island, like Lindis-
farne, by the flow of the tide, which the Greeks call rheuma,
and then restored to the mainland at its ebb, but lying off
several miles to the east, and, consequently, surrounded
on all sides by the deep and boundless ocean. No one,
before God's servant Cuthbert, had ever dared to inhabit
this island alone, on account of the evil spirits which re-
side there: but v^hen the servant of Christ came, armed
with the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, and the
sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, all the fiery
darts of the wicked were extinguished, and that wicked
enemy, with all his followers, were put to flight.
Christ's soldier, therefore, having thus, by the expul-
sion of the tyrants, become the lawful monarch of the
land, built a city fit for his empire, and houses therein
suitable to his city. The building is almost of a round
form, from wall to wall about four or five poles in extent :
the wall on the outside is higher than a man, but within,
by excavating the rock, he made it much deeper, to pre-
vent the eyes and the thoughts from wandering, that the
mind might be wholly bent on heavenly things, and the
pious inhabitant might behold nothing from his residence
but the heavens above him. The wall was constructed,
not of hewn stones or of brick and mortar, but of rough
stones and turf, which had been taken out from the ground
within. Some of them were so large that four men could
hardly have lifted them, but Cuthbert himself, with angels
helping him, had raised them up and placed them on the
CUTHBERT. 8:H
wall. There were two chambers in the house, one an
oratory, the other for domestic purposes. He finished the
walls of them by digging round and cutting away the
natural soil within and without, and formed the roof out
of rough poles and straw. Moreover, at the landing-place
of the island he built a large house, in which the brethren
who visited him might be received and rest themselves,
and not far from it there was a fountain of water for their
use.
Many came to the man of God, not only from the
furthest parts of Lindisfarne, but even from the more
remote parts of Britain, led thither by the fame of his
virtues ; to confess the errors which they had committed,
or the temptations of the devil which they suffered, or the
adversities common to mortals, with which they were
afflicted, and all hoping to receive consolation from a man
so eminent for holiness. Nor did their hope deceive
them. For no one went away from him without consola-
tion, no one returned afflicted with the same grief which
had brought him thither. For he knew how to comfort
the sorrowful with pious exhortation ; he could recal the
joys of celestial life to the memory of those who were
straitened in circumstances, and show the uncertainty of
prosperity and adversity in this life : he had learnt to
make known to those who were tempted the numerous
wiles of their ancient enemy, by which that mind would
be easily captivated which was deprived of brotherly or
divine love ; whereas, the mind which, strengthened by
the true faith, should continue its course, would, by the
help of God, break the snares of the adversaiy like the
threads of a spider's web.
While he was in this place, in the year 684, Archbishop
Theodore, in a full synod, in the presence of Ecgfrid,
appointed Cuthbert to the bishopric of the see of Lindis-
farne, which he most reluctantly accepted. He adorned,
however, the office of a bishop, which he had undertaken,
says Bede, " by the exercise of many virtues, according to
the precepts and examples of the Apostles. For he pro-
329 CUTHBERT.
tected the people committed to his care, with frequent
prayers, and invited them to heavenly things by most
wholesome admonitions, and followed that system which
most facilitates teaching, by first doing himself what he
taught to others. He saved the needy man from the
hand of the stronger, and the poor and destitute from
those who would oppress them. He comforted the weak
and sorrowful ; but he took care to recal those who were
sinfully rejoicing to that sorrow which is according to god-
liness. Desiring still to exercise his usual frugality, he
did not cease to observe the severity of a monastic life,
amid the turmoil by which he was surrounded. He gave
food to the hungry, raiment to the shivering. And his
course was marked by all the other particulars which
adorn the life of a pontiff."
His death took place in 687. Bede, who was present,
gives a minute and interesting account of the circum-
stances attending the event, too long, however, for trans-
cription. He had returned to his dwelling on the island
to prepare for death, the approach of which he perceived.
Having given advice and directions to those around him,
when his hour of evening service was come, he received
from Bede " the blessed Sacrament, and thus strength-
ened himself for his departure by partaking of the Body
and Blood of Christ ; and when he had lifted up his eyes
to heaven, and stretched out his hands above him, his
soul, intent upon heavenly praises, sped his way to the
joys of the eternal kingdom." He was buried in the
monastery of Lindisfarne ; and after several removals, his
body was at length consigned to a tomb in Durham
Cathedral. — Venerable Bede.
CUTHBERT.
Of the life of this Archbishop of Canterbury very few
particulars are known, except that he was of a noble Eng-
lish family, and was translated from Hereford to the
metropolitan see, according to Wright in 710, and accord-
CUTHBERT. QiiS
ing to Godwin in 742. In the last-named year a great
council was held at Cloveshoo, Ethelbald, King of the
Mercians, presiding, with Cuthbert, Archbishop of Canter-
bury, and the rest of the Bishops sitting with them, to
examine all necessary points of religion, and of the creed
delivered to us by the ancient institutes of the holy fathers.
And they diligently enquired how matters were ordered
here, in relation to religion, and particularly as to the
creed, in the infancy of the Church of England, and in
what esteem monasteries then were according to equity.
"While we were making this enquiry, (it is said,) and
reciting ancient privileges, there came to hand that privi-
lege of the churches, and ordinance of the glorious King
Wihtred, concerning the election and authority of the
heads of monasteries, in the kingdom of Kent ; how it is
ordered to be confirmed by the command and option of
the metropolitan of Canterbury. And the said privilege
was read, at the direction of King Ethelbald ; and all that
heard it said, there never was any such noble and wise
decree, so agreeable to ecclesiastical discipline ; and there-
fore they enacted, that it should be firmly kept by all.
" Therefore I, Ethelbald, King of the Mercians, for the
health of my soul, and the stability of my kingdom, and
out of reverence to the venerable Archbishop Cuthbert,
confirm it by the subscription of my own munificent hand,
that the liberty, honour, authority, and security of the
Church of Christ be contradicted by no man ; but she,
and all the lands belonging to her, be free from all secular
services, except military expedition, and building of a
bridge, or a castle. And we charge that this be irrefragably
and immutably observed by all, as the aforesaid King
Wihtred ordained, for him and his.
" If any of the kings my successors, or of the bishops or
princes, attempt to infringe this wholesome decree, let
him give account of it to Almighty God at the tremendous
day.
" If an earl, priest, deacon, clerk, or monk oppose this
constitution, let him be deprived of his degree, and sepa-
324 CUTHBERT.
rated from the participation of the Body and Blood of the
Lord, and he far from the kingdom of God, unless he first
make amends for his insolence, hy agreeable satisfaction ;
for it is written, Whatever ye bind on earth, &c."
Cuthbert was the personal friend of St. Boniface, with
whom he kept up a friendly intercourse by letters. In
745 Boniface sent to Cuthbert some canons of a synod
lately held at Augsburg, with a letter. fFor an account of
this see the life of Boniface.) He, about the same time,
addressed a letter to Ethelbald, King of the Mercians. It
is a noble letter, in which he addresses the King in a
strain of earnest affection, while he rebukes his vices with
unsparing severity : it is such a letter as it became an
Archbishop to write to a Monarch, who was not without
good traits of character, but whose immorality was un-
deniable. From these communications it would seem, that
our Saxon ancestors were addicted to gross impurities, and
that the ascetic preteDsions of many were too often used
as a cloak of lasciviousness. But the great fault of
Boniface was devotion to the interests of the see of Rome ;
and while he exhorted the King and metropolitan to
bestir themselves, in order that the existing evils might
be remedied, he evidently desired to obtain, on the part of
the Church of England, what he had laboured for in
Germany, a synodical submission to the papal see. Cuth-
bert, who was a wise and prudent prelate, did not imitate
his mistaken friend's example, in binding himself to obey
in all things the orders of St. Peter, as they called the
pope's commands ; but at a synod held at Cloveshoo, in
Kent, he, and the other English bishops, engaged to
maintain their own laws against encroachment, keeping
up a free correspondence with foreign churches, and a
union of affection, but patriotically refusing to compromise
their dignity by professing submission to a foreign ecclesi-
astical authority ; still the Romanizing party gained ground
in our Church, because in this synod a strict uniformity
was enjoined with the Roman offices and usages, though
not at that time, of course, corrupted as they have since
been.
CUTHBERT. 3-25
The synod was held in September, 747, in the presence
of Ethelbert, King of the Mercians, the Archbishop of
Canterbury presiding ; eleven bishops and several priests
attended. Thirty canons were drawn up. Pope Zachary
was not wanting on this occasion, for he sent a letter to
the synod, written in a very improper strain, and evidently
to establish a precedent for interference in a synod of the
Church of England. The assembled prelates naturally
regarded this only as an instance of friendship on the part
of a foreign prelate, as they had done the previous inter-
ference of the Archbishop of Mentz. After the prelimin-
aries were concluded by the assembled prelates, " in the
front of their decrees," as we find it stated in the minutes
of the synod, " they established it with an authentic
sanction, that every Bishop be ready to defend the
pastoral charge entrusted with him ; and the canonical
institutions of the Church of Christ (by God's protection
and assistance) with their utmost endeavour, against the
various and wicked assults that are made upon them ; nor
be more engaged in secular affairs, (which God forbid) than
in the service of God, by looseness in living, and tardiness
in teaching ; but be adorned with good manners, with the
abstemious virtues, with works of righteousness, and with
learned studies, that so, according to the Apostle, they
may be able to reform the people of God by their example,
and instruct them by the preaching of sound doctrine."
In the second place, they firmly agreed with a testifica-
tion, that they would devote themselves to intimate peace,
and sincere charity, perpetually, every where amongst
them to endure ; and that there be a perfect agreement of
all, in all the rites of religion belonging to the Church, in
w^ord, in work, in judgment, without flattering of any
person, as being minister of one Lord, and fellow- servants
in one ministry ; that though they are far distant in sees,
yet they may be joined together in mind by one spirit,
serving God in faith, hope, and charity, praying diligently
for each other, that every one of them may faithiuily tiiiish
their race.
YOL. lY. ^ I
326 CUTHBERT.
Collier justly remarks that these two canons, especially
the last, seem to be drawn up especially to protect the
Church of England against the pretensions of Rome, and
to reject the precedent of submission which Boniface had
set them.
The third canon orders annual episcopal visitations,
and directs the bishop to call the people of every condi-
tion together to convenient places, and to plainly teach
them, and forbid them all pagau and superstitious ob-
servances, &c.
4. Directs bishops to exhort all abbots and abbesses
within their dioceses to exhibit a good example in their
lives, and to rule well their houses.
5. Orders bishops to visit those monasteries which,
owing to the corruption of the times, were governed by
laymen.
6. Directs due inquiry to be made concerning the good
life and sound faith of candidates for priest's orders.
7. Directs bishops, abbots, and abbesses to take care
that their " families" do incessantly apply their minds to
reading.
8. Exhorts priests to the right discharge of their duty ;
to desist from secular business ; to serve at the altar with
the utmost application ; carefully to preserve the house of
prayer and its furniture ; to spend their time in reading,
celebrating masses, and psalmody, &c.
9. Exhorts priests, in the places assigned to them, by
their bishops, to attend to the duties of the apostolical
commission, in baptizing, teaching, and visiting, and
carefully to abstain from all wicked and ridiculous con-
versation.
10. Directs that priests should learn how to perform,
according to the lawful rites, every ofiBce belonging to
their order ; that they shall also learn to construe and
explain in their native tongue the Lord's Prayer and
creed, and the sacred words used at mass and in holy
baptism ; that they shall understand the spiritual signifi-
cation of the sacraments, &c.
CUTHBERT. 327
11. Relates to the faith held by priests, orders that it
shall be sound and sincere, and that their ministrations
shall be uniform; that they shall teach all men that
*' without faith it is impossible to please God ;" that they
shall instil the creed into them, and propose it to infants
and their sponsors.
12. Forbids priests " to prate in church," and " to dis-
locate or confound the composure and distinction of the
sacred words" by theatrical pronunciation ; directs them
to follow the " plain song" according to the custom of the
Church ; or, if they cannot do that, simply to read the
words. Also forbids priests to presume to interfere in
episcopal functions.
13. Orders the due observation of the festivals of our
Lord and Saviour, and of the nativity of the saints, accord-
ing to the Roman martyrology.
14. Orders the due observation of the Lord's day.
15. Orders that the seven canonical hours of prayer be
diligently observed.
16. Orders that the Litanies or Rogations be kept by
the clergy and people, with great reverence, on St. Mark's
day, and on the three days preceding Ascension day.
17. Orders the observance of the " birth days" of pope
Gregory, of S. Augustin of Canterbury, who " first
brought the knowledge of faith, the sacrament of baptism,
and the notice of the heavenly country," to the English
nation.
18. Orders the observance of the Ember fasts in the
fourth, seventh, and tenth months, according to the
Roman ritual.
19. Relates to the behaviour and dress of monks and
nuns.
20. Charges bishops to take care that monasteries, as
their name imports, be honest retreats for the silent and
quiet, not receptacles for versifiers, harpers, and buffoons ;
forbids too much familiarity with laymen, especially to
nuns ; bids the latter not spend their time in filthy talk,
junketting, drunkenness, luxury, nor in making vestments
3^8 CUTHBERT.
of divers and vain-glorious colours, but rather in reading
books and singing psalms.
21. Enjoins all monks and ecclesiastics to avoid the
sin of drunkenness, and forbids them to help themselves
to drink before three ia the afternoon, except in cases of
necessity.
2-2. Admonishes monks and ecclesiastics to keep them-
selves always prepared to receive the Holy Communion.
23. Encourages boys among the laity to receive fre-
quently the communion, while they are not yet corrupted ;
also bachelors and married men who avoid sin, lest they
grow weak for want of the salutary meat and drink.
24. Orders that laymen be well tried before they be
admitted into the ecclesiastical state, or into monasteries.
26. Relates to almsgiving.
The twenty-seventh canon throws so much light upoa
the state of society, and of the Church at that period, that
it is given in full.
27. When they were thus discoursing much of those
who sing psalms, or spiritual songs profitably, or of
those who do it .negligently, psalmody (say they) is a
divine work, a great cure in many cases, for the souls
of them who do it in spirit, and mind. But they that
sing with voice, without the inward meaning, may make
the sound resemble something ; therefore though a man
knows not the Latin words that are sung, yet he may
devoutly apply the intentions of his own heart, to the
things which are at present to be asked of God, and
fix them there to the best of his power. For the
psalms, which proceeded of old through the mouth of the
prophet, from the Holy Ghost, are to be sung with the
inward intention of the heart, and a suitable humiliation
of the body, to the end that (by the oracles of divine
praise, and the sacraments of our salvation, and the
humble confesson of sins, or by devoutedly imploring the
pardon of them, they that touch the ears of divine pity by
praying for any valuable thing, may the more deserve to
be heard, by their desiring and affecting to draw near to
CUTHBERT. 3-29
God, and to appease Him by the means which I before
mentioned, especially their most holy and divine service) ;
while they offer variety of prayers and praises to God in
that sacred modulation, either for themselves, or for
others, quick or dead, while at the end of every psalmody,
they bow their knees in prayer, and say in the Latin, or,
if they have not learnt that, in the Saxonic, Lord have
mercy on him, and forgive him his sins, and convert him to
do Thy ivill : or, if for the dead, Lord, according to the
greatness of Thy mercy, grant rest to his soid, and for
Thine infinite inty vouchsafe to him the joys of eternal light
tvith Thy saints. But let them who pray for themselves
have a great faith in psalmody, performed with reverence,
as very profitable to them, when dcme in manner afore-
said (on condition that they persist in the expiation
of their crimes, and not in the allowance of their vices)
that is, they may the sooner, and the more easily deserve
to arrive at the grace of divine reconciliation, by prayers,
and intercessions, while they worthily sing and pray ; or
that they may improve in what is good ; or that they may
obtain what they piously ask : not with any intent, that
they may for one moment do evil, or omit good, with the
greater liberty, or relax fasting, injoined for sin, or give
the less alms, because they believe others sing psalms, or
fast for them. For let every one certainly know, that his
own self-same flesh, which hath been the causes of unlaw-
ful wicked desires, ought to be restrained from what is
lawful ; and that a man should punish it at present, in
proportion to its guilt, if he desire not to be punished
hereafter by the Eternal Judge. Let himself first impor-
tune the divine clemency, with groanings of heart for the
restoration of himself, and then bring as many servants
of God as he can, to make their common prayers to God
for him. For if they promise, or believe, or act, otherwise
than hath been before said, they do not lessen sins, but
add sins to sins ; because by this means (above all the
rest) they provoke the anger of the Supernal Judge;
2i2
330 CUTHBERT.
because they dare set his justice to sale every day by an
immeasurable flattery, and the excessive blandishment of
luxurious conversation. We must speak at large of this,
because a worldly rich man of late, desiring that speedy
reconciliation might be granted him for gross sin, affirmed
by letters, that that sin of his, as many assured him, was
so fully expiated, that if he could live three hundred years
longer, his fasting was already paid, by the new modes of
satisfaction, viz. by the psalmody, fasting, and alms of
others, abating his own fasting, or however insufficient it
were. If then divine justice can be appeased by others,
why, 0 ye foolish ensurers ! is it said by the voice of truth
itself, that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom
of Heaven, when he can with bribes purchase the in-
numerable fastings of others for his own crimes ? 0 that ye
might perish alone, ye that are deservedly called the gates
of hell — before others are ensnared by your misguiding
flattery, and led into the plague of God's eternal indig-
nation. Let no man deceive himself, God deceives none,
when He says by the Apostle, we shall all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ, &c.
28. Forbids to receive greater numbers into monasteries
than can be maintained, and forbids clerks and monks to
imitate seculars in " the fashionable gartering of their
legs, or in having shags round about their heads," nuns
were prohibited from going in secular apparel, or in gaudy
gay clothes.
29. Forbids clerks, monks, and nuns, to dwell with lay-
persons.
80. Enjoins, amongst other things, that prayer be
made by all monks and ecclesiastics for kings and dulses,
and for the safety of all Christian people.
Archbishop Cuthbert died in 758, and was buried in
Canterbury Cathedral. — Goduin. Malmesbury. Johnsons
Eccles. Canons. Wilkin's Cone. Landon. Chtrtons Early
English Church.
CYPRIAN. 881
CYPRIAN, THASCIUS C.ECILIUS.
Thascius Cji^ciLius Cyprian ^vas a lawyer at Carthage,
where he practised with high reputation, at the begioning
of the third century, and where he seems to have realised
a considerable property, the reward of his skill and dili-
gence in his profession. We know not the year of his
birth, nor of consequence his age at the time of his con-
version ; for though he had a contemporary biographer in
Pontius his deacon, few of the incidents of his former life
are recorded. We should only judge from the general
habits of his life and of his mind, as displayed in his
writings, and in the acts of his episcopate, that he
was in the prime of life, or at any rate not far passed
the middle age, when he was born again in holy bap-
tism. We may add that some indirect evidence seems
to show, that he was not incumbered with the care of a
wife and family.
The providence of God which had marked out Cyprian
for a high office in the Church, led him to an intimate
acquaintance with Coecilius, an aged presbyter in the
church of Carthage : and this friendship was the means of
his conversion, which took place early in the year 246.
He has himself recorded, in his epistle to Donatus, some
of the struggles which it cost him to leave the world, and
to embrace the life of a Christian, cut off, as it then was,
from the secular employments and honours of the state,
and from the pomp and revelries of a too luxurious wealth.
We shall not be surprised to find, that some of the temp-
tations which assailed the young convert were directed
against his pride of reason. Like Nicodemus, he could
not receive the mystery of a spiritual regeneration.
'• While," says he, "I was lying in darkness, and in the
shadow of death, and while I was tossed uncertain upon
the waves of this tempestuous world, ignorant of what
was my real life, and an alien from truth and light, I
thought the method of salvation which was proposed to me
333 CYPBIAN.
strange and impossible. I could not believe that man
should be born again ; and being animated with a new
life, put off in the laver of regeneration, what he had
before been : and though remaining the same in his
whole natural and animal frame, become changed in his
mind and affections." The favour of God, however, which
had directed Cyprian to the good Caecilius, did not desert
him in these difficulties ; and coming at last with faith
and repentance to the Sacrament of Baptism, Cyprian
received that grace of regeneration, at which his natural
reason had stumbled.
And as his own words best describe the difficulties of
his conversion, so do they best set forth his experience of
the spiritual effects of baptism. " So entirely," says he,
in the same epistle, "was I immersed in the deadly atmos-
phere of my former life, so enveloped in the habits and
commission of sin, that I despaired of ever freeing myself,
and began to look upon these things, and to love them, as
a part of myself. But when the sulliage of my past
iniquities was washed away by the waters of baptism, the
pure and serene light from above infused itself into my
whole spirit : when my second birth of the Spirit had
formed in me a new man, all at once w^hat bad been
doubtful before, became certain, what had been shut was
opened ; into the darkness light shined ; that was easy,
which before was difficult, and that only difficult, which
before was impossible : and now I knew, that that was
earthly and mortal, which had formerly included me in
the bondage of sin ; but that the Holy Spirit of God had
animated me with a new and better nature."
Moved by affection for his father in Christ, Cyprian
took the name of Caecilius at his baptism. His first work
after he had been numbered among the faithful, was his
epistle to Donatus on the Grace of God, from which we
have already made extracts. To this soon was added a
treatise on the vanity of idols, in which he laboured to
destroy that superstition which he had formerly embraced
CYPRIAN. 333
and defended. While thus employing his energies and
talent in the service of the Church, Cyprian was called to
the diaconate ; and in the December of the year following
his conversion, (247), having in the interim lost his friend
Csecilius, he was made a presbyter : a station which he
adorned, as he had already done that of deacon, and as he
was soon to do that of Bishop, with equal modesty and
virtue.
At the death of Donatus, (248), the whole body of the
Carthaginian laity, with the greater part of the clergy,
demanded Cyprian for their Bishop ; overlooking the
youth of the Christian, in the singular merit of the man.
The modesty of the young presbyter, however, would
have given place to his seniors : and he actually withdrew,
concealing himself for a while from the eager search of the
people. But the providence of God had marked Cyprian
as their Bishop ; and when the people had for some time
surrounded his house, besieging the door, and searching
every passage and retirement in their officious zeal, he
appeared at last, baffied in his concealment, before the
assembled crowd. The people received him with trans-
ports of joy, proportioned to the earnestness of their hopes
and expectations
Immediately after his elevation to the episcopal throne,
the attention of St. Cyprian was directed to the restoration
of discipline, which had been much relaxed during the
long peace which the Church had enjoyed. To this end
he called in the advice of his clergy, without which his
great example of wisdom and firmness, tempered with
humility, undertook nothing of importance. To this time
is to be referred his tract de habitu virginiim, and several
of his epistles. The first of these was occasioned by the
breach of an ecclesiastical law, which forbad clergynien to
be incumbered with executorships. One victim, an eccle-
siastic at Turin, had nominated Fautinus, a presbyter, his
executor. The Bishop, in his letter to the clergy and people
at Turin, expresses his regret at this breach of discipline ;
cites the decision of a former synod, condemning the
334 CYPRIAN.
practice, of which Victor had been guilty ; and states, in
general terms, the principles on which the ecclesiastical
canons on that head were founded. ''No man that war-
reth, entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he
may please Him Who hath chosen him to be a soldier : and if
this rule should regulate the life of every Christian, much
more of every ecclesiastic, that he may give himself the
more entirely to the service of the altar: on the same
principle proceeded the exemption of the Levites, under
the Mosaical law, from the cares of this life : and all this
was maturely considered by those who made the ecclesi-
astical rule which Victor has disregarded." " Wherefore"
continues Cyprian, " since Victor has dared, contrary to
the law lately enacted in council, to nominate Fautinus
his executor, no oblation ought to be made for his death,
nor any prayer be offered in his name in the church : that
so we may maintain the decree of the Bishops which was
religiously made, and of necessity ; and that a warning
may be given at the same time to the rest of the brethren,
not to call off the priests and ministers of the altar and
Church of God, by the distracting cares of this world."
A player, who had left off the exercise of his profession,
on embracing the faith of Christ, but still continued to
teach it to others ; and a deacon who had insulted the
offices and power of an aged bishop, named Rogatian,
gave occasion to two other of Cyprian's epistles ; but the
most painful dehnquency against which he had now to
exert his episcopal authority, forms the subject of his
fourth epistle. The experience of the Church during two
centuries of persecution had fully justified St. Paul's
assertion, that for the present distress, celibacy was the
better state. A single life was by this time looked on as
a state of greater privilege and sanctity, and many of each
sex had voluntarily embraced that condition, not binding
themselves by any vow, but simply proposing to them-
selves a religious celibate. From this condition, those
who were already married were of course excluded : but
for these there was a greater refinement of asceticism
CYPKIAN. 335
open, by a voluntary continence ; and to this some of
them resorted. This discipline seems to have suggested
to those who had already professed celibacy, the dangerous
expedient of choosing one of the other sex, with whom
they might form a kind of spiritual nuptials, still main-
taining their chastity, though, in all things else, li\ing as
freely together as married persons.
That there were unworthy motives at the bottom of
such a course, it would be difficult not to believe : it is
however fair to suppose, that the delinquents were self-
deceived. They had prevailed on themselves to believe,
that they might test and strengthen their religious charac-
ter, by preserving their celibate, in the midst of such
temptations. The world, however, refused to view the
matter in this light : and much scandal ensued. Pompo-
nius, a brother bishop, wrote for St. Cyprian's advice, as
to the manner in which he should treat those who had
been guilty of this scandalous custom in his diocese.
Cyprian declares at once, that the professed celibates with
their agadetce had placed themselves within the snares of
the devil ; and laments that many had already fallen a
sacrifice to his wiles : he recommends, that those who had
offended in this matter, without reference to the tnith or
falsehood of their assertions of purity, should undergo
penance ; that they should then resume their state of pro-
fessed celibacy, if they still thought it conducive to their
Christian character; but otherwise, that they should
marry, since, as St. Paul says, it is better to marry than to
burn. But if any refused to forego their scandalous
custom, they were to be excommunicated, without hope
of reconciliation.
This whole matter affords us a most useful general
lesson, and an awful example of the deceitfulness of sin.
It was under the pretence of a singular sanctity that the
(7vvH<Ta,Kroi voluntarily placed themselves in a position so
full of scandal to the Church in general, and of danger to
themselves ; and many of them doubtless, when they were
on the verge of loosing the very purity which they estima-
336 CYPRIAN.
ted so highly, were priding themselves on the constancy
with which they resisted temptation, and maintained their
Christian life.
While St. Cyprian was thus engaged in the revival of
discipline, which a lay person had relaxed, persecution,
with its healing though painful influence was approach-
ing. After various and rapid revolutions, Decius a
heathen prince found himself invested with the imperial
purple. He was himself a firm adherent to the super-
stitions of his forefathers, and he was perhaps alarmed at
the num^ber of Christians, who must be supposed to cling
with some affection to the memory of Philip, whom he
had dethroned and murdered. The reign of Decius com-
menced therefore with an edict against the Christians.
The first step which was taken on the publication of this
edict, was the appointing of a day on which all who were
accused or suspected of being Christians should be re-
quired to renounce their faith, and sacrifice to the heathen
gods. Meanwhile they were suffered to remain unmo-
lested. There was sufi&cient leniency here towards the
persons of the brethren, but a cruel policy against the
faith of the Church ; for there was no more likely method
than this to make apostates.
Many in express obedience to the precept of our blessed
Lord Himself, Who taught His disciples, when persecuted
in one city to flee to another, retired from Carthage,
leaving their possessions as the price of their life ;
St. Cyyrian himself was among those who avoided perse-
cution by an early retreat : not, however, before he had
seen ample indications, that against him especially, as the
Bishop of the Church, the fury of the heathens would be
excited ; not before the circus and the amphitheatre had
again and again echoed the voices of the people, calling
out that he should be cast to the lions ; and not before
(which is far the most important) he had become fully
convinced by the best consideration, and, as he himself
tells us, by a warning also from Heaven, that he should
thus be fulfilling his duty to God and His Church more
CYPRIAN. 337
perfectly. On this retreat Caecilius Cyprian was proscribed
by name, and his estate confiscated.
We know not the place or the companions of St. Cyprian's
first retreat ; he tells us, however, incidentally, that he
had not retired from Carthage without leaving a great
portion of his property for the benefit of the poor of his
diocese ; committing it, for that purpose, to the presbyter
Fiogatian. Meanwhile, if absent in body, he was yet in
spirit present with his flock ; sparing neither exertion,
nor prayers, nor eucharistic commemorations, nor frequent
directions, encouragements, and reproofs, to preserve them
in the true faith of Christ, and within the bonds of apos-
tolical order. He was careful, therefore, through the
medium of Tertullus, of whom he speaks with much
affection, to receive constant intelligence from Carthage ;
and he made up for his absence, as much as possible, by
his frequent letters to the clergy, and to the people of his
church. He exhorts them to a maintenance of discipline,
and at the same time to as great prudence and meekness
under the Church's affliction as was consistent with
fidelity. He encourages those who were suffering under
the severest pressure of persecution, and at the same time
warns them not to be too much elated by their privilege ;
and he gives suitable exhortations, alike to those who may
receive and those who may miss, the martyrs crown. Nor
were bis own people the only persons who demanded his
attention. In Rome, Cyprian had been represented as a
renegade, and the clergy of Rome had written letters to
Carthage, in which they boast of their own constancy, and
insinuate an unfavourable comparison at Cyprian's ex-
pense. At the same time Cyprian himself received an
account of the martyrdom of Fabian, Bishop of Rome, so
expressed as to convey to him a tacit reproof for his re-
treat. Cyprian congratulates the clergy of Rome on the
glory of their confession, while he questions the auth< n-
ticity of letters which cast undeserved opprobriiun ^vn a
Christian Hishop.
VOL. IV -2 K
;338 CYPRIAN.
In this persecution, which was the fiercest to which
Christianity had yet been exposed ; and which found the
Church less prepared than it had been at any previous
time, to resist its spiritual enemies ; a proportionate num-
ber of the brethren, in all parts of the Roman empire,
apostatized from the faith.
And now it was that, by the united effort of the sound
part of the Church in all Christendom, the ecclesiastical
regulations concerning the treatment of the lapsed, were
reduced to the most perfect form that they ever assumed.
The discipline which had been previously established
by the usage of the Church was as follows : Those who
iiad denied the faith explicitly, or by offering sacrifice or
incense, were at once excommunicated : no offerings were
received from them, and no mention was made of them
at the eucharistic commemorations; nor were they received
with the faithful into any ecclesiastical fellowship. They
were not, however, utterly cast off, nor left to become
hardened, by escaping observation and rebuke ; nor, if they
came to a sense of their miserable condition, were they
permitted to remain in despair of the favour of God, by
being for ever shut out from the peace of the Church : but
they were admitted, at the discretion of the Bishop, to a
penance proportionate with their offence ; and were after-
wards formally received into communion with the faithful,
by episcopal imposition of hands.
Some again, by a subsequent confession, and even a
martyr's death, recovered their place in the Church : mar-
tyrdom, especially as a second baptism, being accounted as
purgation of sins, at least so far as the Church has cogni-
zance of them, even as original sin is washed away in the
laver of baptism, sufficiently sealed the reconciliation of the
returning Christian. Those, also, who were penitent,
and were seized with any mortal illness, were at once
restored by the administration of the Holy Eucharist.
Another medium of return to the peace of the Church,
was the intercession of the martyrs. It was supposed,
CYPRIAN. a39
tliat those blessed saints who were awaiting in the
faith and hope of martyrs, an immediate crown of glory,
and admission to the beatific vision, might especially pre-
vail in their intercessions at the throne of grace ; and the
privilege of those whose souls should soon cry from
beneath the heavenly altar, against the persecutors, was
thought to extend, in some degree, to a prevailing inter-
cession for the persecuted.
But during this persecution, the salutary laws which
should have restrained the exercise of the martyr's privi-
lege, were in many instances disregarded : and hence arose
miserable divisions in the Church, with all the heart-
burnings and lasting evils of party spirit ; soine proceeding
even to actual violence, and others, taking occasion from
this excitement and division to add fury to a previous
faction, and strength to a subsequent schism. In a word,
the question of the lapsed is more or less connected,
henceforth, with almost every incident of importance in
which we shall find St. Cyprian involved.
So soon as the end of April, that is, before the extremity
of persecution had lasted a month, we find Cyprian lament-
ing the pride and presumption of some confessors; and
again, soon after, he rebukes some of the clergy for a spirit
of insubordination, and contention. And in an epistle
written in June to his clergy, he feelingly laments that the
beauty and excellence of confession was so often tarnished
by these vices ; and having recommended humility and
obedience, he enters at once upon the great question which
then awaited his decision, touching the reconciliation of
those who had received a recommendation from the mar-
tyrs, without sufficient proof of penitence on the part of
the lapsed ; without sufficient caution on the part of the
martyrs ; and without a sufficient care, on the part of the
clergy, to maintain due order and discipline. " I regret,"
says he, " to hear, that some of you, actuated by pride and
impudence, employ yourselves in exciting discord ....
and that they cannot be governed by the deacons or the
priests, but so demean themselves, that the illustrious
340 CYPRIAN.
splendour of many and excellent confessors is tarnished
by the disreputable manners of a few. Such persons
ought to dread, lest they should be expelled from the
society of the good, being condemned by their testimony
and judgment. For he is the truly illustrious confessor,
for whom the Church has not to blush afterwards, but in
whom she still glories. As for that which my brother
presbyters Donatus and Fortunatus, Novatus and Gordius,
have written to me, I have been able to answer nothing
alone ; since I have determined, from the beginning of my
episcopate, to do nothing by my private judgment without
consulting you, and without the consent of the people.
But when God shall permit my return, we will determine
what ought to be done together, as aur mutual dignity
demands."
The good advice of St. Cyprian would have prevailed, if
there had been really a desire of peace, and a disposition
to obey in those to whom he wrote, but the martyrs were
made the tools of an ambitious and factious party among
the presbyters, who actually instigated them to an un-
worthy use of their license of recommendation, in favour
of men to whom they knew that Cyprian could never
conscientiously concede the privilege of communion: thus
associating with themselves, in their opposition against
their Bishop, a body of overweening martyrs and confes-
sors, and a clamorous party of the lapsed; while they
flattered the pride of the one, and excited the hopes and
passions of the other.
Cyprian had now remained more than a year in his
retreat. He lamented his forced absence from his people
with deep and unceasing regret. He found consolation,
however, in the hope that he should celebrate the ap-
proaching Easter among them. But the promised plea-
sure and privilege was denied to Cyprian and his flock,
by the miserable secession and rebellion of certain of his
own people, who so disturbed the peace of the Church,
and excited so much passion and violence, that Cyprian
compares the effects of their machinations to another
CYPRIAN. 341
persecution : and now he declares it was inexpedient for
him to return, lest the authors of schism, though professed
Christians, should be excited to some sudden ebullition of
violence, by the return of their own Bishop.
In the Church of Carthage, was a presbyter named
Novatus. He was doubtless among those who opposed
the election of Cyprian, and disturbed the beginning of
his episcopate ; for a rancorous and persevering hostility
to whatever was right, seems to have been habitual in him.
We find him avowedly connected with Donatus, Fortuna-
tus, and Gordius, in proposing a factious question to
Cyprian, touching the lapsed. He was a lover of novelty,
of insatiable avarice, proud and overbearing, of ill report
among the Bishops of his province, and accused by com-
mon report of peculation in th^ temporal, and error in
the spiritual deposit of the Church ; he was fawning and
treacherous, a firebrand of contention, in the Church a
destroying tempest, and a disturber of all peace.
About the end of the year 249 he had been cited to
answer before Cyprian; and there is little doubt that he
would have been convicted, and canonically deprived.
But when the day for his trial was near at hand, the
Decian persecution broke out with such fury, as to disturb
all the arrangements of the Church, for its internal purity
and peace : but he was not content with impunity ; he
must also have notoriety, influence, and revenge; and
gathering about him a sufficient number of clergy and
laity to mtike his party formidable, he separated from the
Church ; and not only braved her censures, but even
opposed to her body a conventicle of his own, and retorted
her condemnations and warnings with insolent and rebel-
lious threats.
His appropriate charge as a presbyter was over a co7v
gregation separate from that of the Mother Church, but
in the diocese, and under the episcopal jurisdiction of
Cyprian. At this Church Novatus collected around him
five other presbyters, together with a large body of the
2k 2
342 CYPPJAK.
people ; and to assist him in his ministry, to this " seces'^
sion" he procured the ordination of FeUcissimus as his
deacon, without the consent of Cyprian his Bishop, and
even without his knowledge. This Felicissimus became
afterwards his tool and most active partisan ; indeed he
was a worthy associate of Novatus ; for he too had been a
peculator, and was charged with repeated adulteries, and
the most heartless debaucheries.
But Novatus was not unsupported by the clergy of the
Church; of the eight presbyters, of whom alone we have any
mention as attached to the Church of Carthage, and who
perhaps formed the whole of the Bishop's consistory, five,
that is, the majority of the whole number, adhered to the
party of Novatus, and to his deacon, surreptitiously obtained.
These five were Fortunatus, Jovinus, Maximus, Donatus,
and Gordianus, presbyters of long standing, and the same
who had been the old oppugners of Cyprian's episcopate.
Encouraged by so large and important an array of ecclesias-
tics, this party presumed so far, as to declare that they
would refuse the communion to all who maintained the
fellowship, or obeyed the mandates of Cyprian. This was
in fact a sentence of excommunication against themselves,
which was far better than their continuing members of
the Church in name, while they were in fact enemies to
the body of Christ ; and was even preferable, on the whole,
to the sentence of excommunication proceeding in the first
instance from the Church. " Let him,"' says Cyprian to
his before-mentioned deputies, "abide by his own sen-
tence, and hold himself as separated from our communion,
his voluntary act being ratified by us." And, writing to
his people, he says, " It seems nothing short of an inter-
position of divine providence, that these men have brought
upon themselves, by their own act, without my will, or
even knowledge, the punishment which was due to their
criiiics ; and that they who must otherwise have suffered
;the senieuc;.' of excommunication at our hands, and with
your siitfrage, have themselves left the pale of the Church."
CYPKIAX. 848
Novatiis, soon after this, went to Rome for a season,
where Novatian, a man of like character with himself, was
dividing the Church by his contest with Cornelius, just
elected as the successor of Fabian to the episcopal throne
of that city. Novatus threw himself into all the plans of
Novatian, and continued to embroil Carthage still more,
by means of this schism in another Church. Letters and
messengers were sent from Rome to the different churches
favourable to Novatian, and subversive of the authority of
Cornelius. The bearers of Novatian's letters to Carthage,
and of accusations against Cornelius, played their part
most pertinaciously, even after they had been rejected by
Cyprian and a syn )d of bishops. We learn from Eusebius
that at Antioch some bishops leaned so much towards the
Novatian cause, that a council was necessary to suppress
his party; and the schism, which originated with him, was
not entirely healed until the sixth century. At present,
however, we find it struggling for a bare existence in
Rome ; where Novatian, his error, and his schism, were
formally condemned ; his party had been already treated
with equal rigour in Africa; for Maximus, Longinus, and
Machaeus, his emissaries to that province, and the first of
them, the Bishop whom he had endeavoured to obtrude
upon the Church of Carthage, were expelled from that
country. But he was only incited to greater exertions by
these severities ; for he still maintained himself as the
centre of the schism at Rome, and laboured more and more
to disturb the peace of the whole Church, sending bishops
of his party, with other emissaries, into several cities.
Of these, Evaristus, a Bishop, together with Nicostratus,
a deacon and confessor, and Priscus and Dionysius,
accompanied Novatus, his ever-active and ever-dangerous
ally, to Africa, whence his party had been driven with
ignominy.
Caldonius and Fortunatus were despatched from Carth-
age to Ronie, to learn the true state of affairs, and in the
interim Pompeius and liephanus, two African prelates who
chanced to be at Rome during the election of Cornelius,
344 CYPRIAN.
arrived most opportunely, to give their testimony in his fa*
vour. The synod, who had sent Caldonius and Fortunatus,
having separated till their return, Cyprian, though he threw
all his iofluence into the right scale, avoided a public and
formal recognition of Cornelius, till he might make it with
the addition of the sy nodical judgment. This for a time
occasioned some uneasiness to Cornelius, but the explana-
tion of Cyprian dispelled it, and all was now harmony
between them. It was on occasion of this great schism in
the Roman Church, that Cyprian wrote his most impor-
tant and most celebrated work, his tract on the unity of
the Church : a work still of vast importance for its testi-
mony, both against the exaggerated claims of the Bishop
of Rome in after ages, and against the several sectaries,
whoever they may be, who have divided, and continue to
divide the Church, through pride and pertinacity in error.
Shortly after the healing of the schism in Rome, another,
not unlike it in many of its features, though of less im-
portance, occurred in Carthage. We need not relate the
circumstances under which those who had already shown
themselves ready to disturb the Church, and to oppose them-
selves to the authority of Cyprian, procured the consecra-
tion of one Fortunatus by five excommunicated bishops,
and set him up as the rival of the true apostolic Bishop of
Carthage. It is strange, however, that as the claims of
Novatian had been the occasion indirectly of a momentary
coolness between Cornelius and Cyprian, so now the
like effect was occasioned by the pretensions of Fortunatus.
Cornelius gave too ready an ear to the accusations against
Cyprian, and to the allegations in favour of the leader of
the schism. The letters, however, of Cyprian completely
opened the eyes of his brother in the episcopate, and
perfect peace and confidence were again restored. It
is needless to add that the cause of Cyprian, which was
indeed the cause of the Church, was triumphant at Rome
and elsewhere ; indeed he tells us that by the very fact of
the ordination of Fortunatus, his faction was diminished
almost to nothing ; for this shameless act opened the eyes
CYPRIAN. 345
of all who were hitherto deceived by the pretensions of
that party.
The ordination of Maximus by the Novatian party at
Carthage was still more obscure ; and only gives us an
opportunity of mentioning, that there were now three rival
bishops in Carthage. The only account which Cyprian
deigns to give of this latter pretender, is contained in the
following passage of the letter so often lately quoted. " It
is scarcely consistent with the majesty of the Catholic
Church, to notice the impudent attempts of heretics and
schismatics ; I hear, however, that a party of the Nova-
tians have lately sent as their bishop into these parts, one
Maximus, whom I had already excommunicated." The
best use to make of such accounts, is to collect from them
the testimony even of heretics to the necessity of that
discipline which the Catholic Church has ever maintained.
It seems that in those days it was not thought possible to
assume even the external figure of a Church, without the
presence of a Bishop : and that too, a Bishop of that par-
ticular Church, w^iere the schismatics assembled. It
would have seemed monstrous then to have assumed the
character of a Christian Church, without a Bishop ; or of
a Christian Church, in London for instance, under a
Bishop of Olena. Some in these wiser days seem to think
otherwise.
Another terrible persecution was now impending over
the Church. Whenever any dreadful calamity befel the
empire, the people and the magistrates sought to appease
their gods by the slaughter of the Christians ; and the
plague having now broken out with fearful violence, the
Christians were subjected to cruel persecutions. St. Cyprian
was one of the first against whom the malice of an excited
populace was directed, and he was called for to the lions
at the beginning of the troubles that were breaking upon
the Church. He was not, however, yet honoured with the
crown of martyrdom ; nor indeed, although he seems to
have anticipated a different result, did this persecution
under G alius and Volusianus fall so heavily upon his
346 CYPRIAN.
Church, as that of Decius had done. Then he was driven
from his Church, now he remained to comfort, to advise,
to encourage, those who suffered, or who feared to suffer.
Nor did he neglect to plead the cause of the Christians.
His epistle to Demetrian is a very fair specimen of the apolo-
getic writings of the early Christians, and of course puts us
in possession not only of the defence of the Christians, but
also of the arguments which vt^re used against them : on
this account we may make some extracts from this epistle.
" You say," says Cyprian, " that all the evils with which
the world is now harassed, are to be attributed to us, and
to our refusal to worship your gods." " Know,
however, that all these things have been predicted ; and
know also, that they happen not as you ignorantly assume,
because we worship not your gods ; but because God is
not worshipped by you. For since He is the Lord and
Euler of the universe, and all things obey His will, and
nothing ever happens but by His hand, or His permission,
when such events occur as demonstrate His indignation,
they occur not because of us who worship God, but because
of your iniquities, who will not seek the Lord, nor fear Him ;
who will not desert your vain superstitions, and acknow-
ledge the true religion ; so that God, who is the sam.e God
over all, may by all be alone worshipped and supplicated."
We cannot refrain from observing, with how good a
grace the Christians, after they had acquired the superi-
ority in temporal power, retorted upon the heathen their
accusation, that they were the cause of evil in the world ;
since they had not been afraid to make the same accusa-
tion, while they were depressed and persecuted.
St. Cyprian proceeds to quote several passages from the
Jewish Scriptures, in which the very same judgments are
denounced against those who will persist in serving false
gods, as the heathens then suffered, and imputed to the
vengeance of the gods against the Christians. He applies
these threatenings of the prophet to the present time.
He te^lls Demetrian, that the purpose of those judgments
in the divine counse], was to call the heathen to repent-
CYPRIAN. 347
ance ; yet he adds other prophecies, which intimate that
the threatened judgments should fail in this purpose,
and that in consequence of the obduracy of the heathen,
they should still continue. The conclusion of Cyprian's
argument from their fulfilment is as follows. " Lo !
scourges fall upon you from above, yet ye tremble not.
If some such note of the Divine vengeance fell not upon
men, encouraged by impunity, how much greater would be
their boldness and impiety !"
After having at some length exposed the vices of the
heathen, as calling for the vengeance of God, and amply
justifying the infliction of all those calamities which were
attributed to the wrath of Heaven against the Church,
St. Cyprian proceeds to the mention of those cruelties
with which the Christians were eveiy where overwhelmed.
" It is not enough that you yourselves serve not God; but
those who do serve Him you pursue with impious rage.
Nor are you satisfied with depriving us of life by a quick
and simple process ; you inflict the most cruel and linger-
ing death, and are not content even with torturing us
except by some new invention, and with the exercise of a
savage ingenuity. How insatiable your cruelty ! How
implacable your vengeance !
" Christianity either is or is not a crime. If it be
a crime, why do you not at once execute him who
confesses his guilt ? If it be not a crime, why do you
persecute the innocent ? Again : allowing it to be a
crime ; those w^ho are implicated in it, but obstinately
withhold a confession of their guilt, would be the
proper objects of torture : but we confess, we proclaim our
adherence to the Christian cause, and our contempt of
your gods. Why then are w^e tortured, as if we concealed
our guilt ? Why this attempt upon the infirmity of our
bodies ; upon the weakness of what is but earthly in us ?
Kather enter the lists with our minds ; try the strength
of our reason ; see if you can subvert our faith with argu-
ment ; and if you must conquer, conquer by an appeal to
reason."
348 CYPRIAN.
To the Christians St. Cj^prian writes in another strain.
His exhortation to martyrdom is a noble display of the
motives which should lead a Christian to rejoice in
being made more like to Christ by suffering; and the
same may be said of his epistle to the Thybaritans: "A
more fierce and dreadful conflict," says he, " now awaits
us, for which the soldiers of Christ ought to prepare them-
selves with uncorrupt faith, and a manly virtue ; drinking
to this end, day by day, the Blood of Christ, that for
Christ they may be enabled to shed their own blood. If
we would manifest our willingness to be with Christ, we
ought also so to walk as He walked ; as St. Paul tells us ;
' we are sons, and if sons then heirs, heirs of God, and
joint heirs with Christ, if we so suffer with Him as to be
glorified with Him also.' And this we should now bear
in mind, that none of us may have his desires fixed upon
this world, now ready to perish ; but that all may follow
Christ, who Himself liveth for ever, and giveth life to those
who are established in the faith of His Name."
After having quoted several warnings of our Lord and
His Apostles of impending persecutions, with the accom-
panying promises and blessings, he proceeds, "In the
midst of persecution, our Lord would have us exult and
be glad ; for then the crowns of faith are bestowed, then
the soldiers of God are approved, then heaven is thrown
open to the martyrs. Nor did we so enroll our names in
the army of the saints, as to look for a peaceable service
only, and to deprecate and refuse the battle : for our Lord
Himself, our example in humility and patience and long-
suffering, commenced our course in actual conflict ; Him-
self beginning that warfare which He would have us to
wage, and bearing for us in His own person, that which
He would have us to bear after Him Remember that
He, to whom all judgment is committed, has declared,
that those who confess Him here, He vrill confess them
before His Father ; and that He will deny those who deny
Him And let none be discouraged, dearest bre-
thren, at seeing the company of the faithful put to flight by
CYPRIAN. 319
fear of persecution, and because he sees not the flock as-
sembled in one place, nor hears the voice of the shepherd
(Bishop). They cannot be collected together who are ap-
pointed not to kill, but to be killed. And whithersoever,
in those days a single disciple shall be driven by necessity,
being absent from the brethren in body, but present with
them in spirit, let him not be cast into despondency by
his flight, nor be driven to despair by the solitude of his
retreat. He flies not alone, who hath Christ the com-
panion of his flight. He is not alone, who beareth about
with him every where the temple of God, and hath God
ever within him."
Then having proposed to them the examples of Abel, of
Abraham, of the Three Children, and of Daniel ; having
reminded them of the slaughter of the Innocents ; but
more especially having set before them the unparalleled
sufferings of Jesus Christ; he warns them, that the times
of antichrist are approaching : aud adapting his exhorta-
tion to their necessities, he proceeds : " Men are trained
and exercised for victory in the secular games ; and they
account it no slight accession to their glory, if they receive
the prize before a crowded assembly, in the presence of
the Emperor. Lo ! our great, our illustrious content ;
glorious with the guerdon of a heavenly crown ! lo, how
God witnesses our struggle ; and looking benignantly on
those whom He condescends to call His children, Himself
rejoices in our victory ! How great the happinness in the
sight of God to contend : to be crowned by the judgment
of Christ ! Let us arm, my beloved brethren, let us arm
for the contest with a mind and a faith uncorrupted, and
with devoted valour ! Let those who have hitherto con-
quered resume their arms, lest they lose the glory which
they have nobly won ! Let those who have before fallen
gird on their harness, that they may retrieve their former
disgrace. Let honour incite the faithful; let remorse impel
the fallen to the field."
In marked accordance with this last portion of his
exhortation, was his own conduct in pre})aving his Cbuicli
VOL. lY. 2 L
350 CYPRIAN.
for the coming persecution ; for besides these general
exhortations to martyrdom, and other such-like obvious
measures, he tells Cornelius, in a synodical lettter, that
he had, with the concurrence of forty-one of his compro-
vincial Bishops, re-admitted the penitent lapsed to com-
munion. " For we are warned," said he, " by divers signs,
to arm for the battle, and to summon the w^hole army of
Christ to His banners ; and at such a time we thought it
advisable to place arms in the hands of those who had
before deserted their ranks, though not as incorrigible
traitors or renegades : and as they had already been ad-
mitted to penance, so now to admit them to the peace of
the Church, For now the communion of the brethren is
as necessary to them in their perilous life, as it was here-
tofore at the hour of death ; at which time it was always
proposed to re-admit them into the Church. And how
shall we expect those to pour out their blood for Christ, to
whom we deny the cup of Christ's Blood in the Supper of
the Lord ?"
In this persecution died Cornelius, Bishop of Rome.
He had been banished to Centursellae, whither Cyprian
addressed to him a congratulatory epistle ; and there he
died, — February 14th, 252. — After a few days Lucius was
chosen in his place, and he too soon perished. This is con-
nected with the history of St. Cyprian by an epistle of the
latter, in which he congratulates him on his confession,
and anticipates as a matter of joy, the still higher crown
of martyrdom which probably awaited him.
The plague, which had excited the people to the perse-
cution of the Church, outlasted the cruelties to which it
had given rise ; — a more fatal scourge than man could
inflict, though, in one sense, a less terrible one, siuce it is
better to fall into the hands of the Lord than into the
hands of men : we shall only add that Cyprian wrote his
tract, De Mortalitate, on this occasion, in which he applies
himself to the encouragement of his people, and directs
them in their duties, both towards their suffering fellow-
creaiures, and towards their Almighty Lord, Who was thus
CYPRIAN. 051
calling them to repentance, and a nearer communion with
heaven.
Another opportunity of exercising the charity of his
people occurred also in the year 253, when certain Nu-
midian Christians were made captives by the barbarians.
Nearly £800 was transmitted on this occasion from the
Church of Carthage to the distressed brethren of Numidia,
accompanied with a letter from Cyprian, breathing the
true spirit of Christian charity, and attesting the power of
the doctrine of the communion of saints, over the hearts
and conduct of the faithful.
To the spring of the same year we may refer a very
interesting epistle of Cyprian to Csecilius, the occasion of
which was as follows : — At the time of which we are
writing, a very frequent, perhaps a daily, participation in
the eucharistic feast was the universal custom among
Christians ; but there were men, who were induced, from
a fear that their religion would be betrayed by the smell
of the wine, taken in the morning, to consecrate the cup
only with water; and thus avoid an involuntary confes-
sion, and the consequent persecution.
St. Cyprian maintains, with arguments only too abun-
dantly conclusive, that wine must at all hazards and at
all events be mingled with the cup, and taken by the
people, or that the communicants are deprived of the
Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. We must refer the
reader to the epistle itself for many passages which prove
most convincingly that the doctrine of transubstantiation
was DO part of Cyprian's creed ; and that he would most
assuredly have resented the depriving the laity of the cup
in the Eucharist, as an innovation of the Roman Church,
equally presumptuous, tyrannical, and sacrilegious.
Valerius made it one of the earliest acts of his govern-
ment, to confirm the security of the Christians. In the
first dawn of a less troubled day, the chair of Lucius, at
Rome, had been filled by the election and consecration of
Stephen, on the 13th of May, (258,) after it had been vacant
eight days. Cyprian took the earliest opportunity to con-
S6'2 CYPRIAN.
voke a provincial synod of the African Bishops. At this
synod sixty-six bishops were assembled; and from their con-
sistory an answer was returned to an epistle of one Fidus,
in which two questions had been submitted to Cyprian.
Victor, a presbyter, had lapsed ; and Therapius, Bishop
of Bulla, had received him to communion, before he had
fulfilled the appointed penitential course. Of this Fidus
wrote to acquaint Cyprian ; and he, with his associates at
the synod, proceeded to reprimand Therapius, but deter-
mined that Victor should retain the privilege improperly,
though with a Bishop's authority, extended to him. Here
we have the important rule recognized, that the act of an
ecclesiastical minister may be valid, though it be improper
and irregular. For the judgment of the Bishops pro-
ceeded upon the principle, that the peace of the Church
once given, in whatever manner, by a Bishop, ought not
tO' be recalled.
The second question of Fidus related to the baptism of
new-born infants. He had declared his opinion, that
they ought not to be baptized within the second or third
days from their birth ; with a doubt whether they ought
not to be kept unbaptized even till the eighth day : argu-
ing for the first delay, that children at their birth were in
such a sense unclean, as to present a repulsive appearance,
and to make us naturally unwilling to impart to them the
kiss of peace, which was in those days a part of the cere-
monial of baptism : and grounding his preference for the
still longer interval on the analogy of baptism with the
Jewish rite of circumcision. The issue of this appeal to
Cyprian is conclusive against the doctrine and practice of
Anti-paedobaptists : it was simply, that baptism is to be
denied to none, on account of their youth or age. As for the
strange fancies of Fidus, St. Cyprian reminds him, that to
the pure all things are pure ; and that since God fashioned
us even in the womb, the new-born babe coming more im-
mediately from the hands of God, rather claims our more
affectionate and reverential embrace. When Elisha raised
the widow's son, he put his own mouth and each of his
CYPRIAN.. 353
limbs on the mouth and corresponding members of the
child ; a thing not to be understood literally, or, at least,
not without a spiritual meaning; for the different dimen-
sions of the man and of the child seem to forbid such a
contact : herein then we are taught, that when once
fashioned by the hand of God, all men are in a spiritual
and divine sense equal. As for circumcision, the type
was done away, when the antitype appeared ; and Christ
rising on the eighth day, procured for us a spiritual cir-
cumcision, into which we may be baptized at any time ;
and, in a word, if there be a difficulty in the admission of
any to the laver of regeneration and the sacrament of
remission, it should rather seem to affect those old and
hardened offenders, who have added to their original cor-
ruption, many and long offences ; and not infants, who
are personally guiltless, and bear the sin and death only
of the race from which they spring.
We must pass over the proceedings arising out of the
attempt of certain Bishops (Fortunatianus, Basihdes, Mar-
tialis, and Marcianus) to return without due penance and
reconciliation to the episcopal honour and functions which
they had forfeited by apostacy during persecution, and
pass on to the controversy concerning the baptism of
heretics, which is perhaps the most important of all those
in which Cyprian was engaged.
The question agitated was really one of vital importance.
Whether or no those who had received baptism from the
hands of a heretic, should be admitted into the Church by
a second baptism: or rather, (for this is the more correct
way of stating the question) whether the spriniding by a
heretic should be accounted any baptism at all ; and there-
fore, whether one who had received such a sprinkling
should be baptized. This question had been debated on
several occasions, and had received several solutions in
different provinces, but had never been determined with
authority. In Asia, synods had been held at Synnada
and Iconium, in which it had been determined, that
heretical baptism was invalid. In Africa, Agrippinus,
2l2
354 CYPRIAN.
of Carthage, had presided in a council, at which the
same determination was adopted In Rome, and in the
dioceses in its provinces, the oi)inion seems always to
have been, that they who came over from heresy, and had
received baptism in their separation from the Church,
should be received, nevertheless, without a second ba{>
tism. Meanwhile all agreed, if not in the particular rule
or discipline, yet in the much more important matter,
that the Bishop was the centre of authority in such mat-
ters to his own Church, or the synod of provincial Bishops
to each province ; and that they did right who followed the
determination of their Bishop or the synod respectively,
until the paramount authority of the universal Church
should determine the question.
The region in which this difference first created dis-
sension with Rome, was in Asia Minor. Perhaps some
Asiatic Christians may have expressed their opinion upon
the subject at Rome ; and if th.-y did this imprudently,
still more if they did it intemperately, they were highly
culpable. Perhaps some converted heretics, who had been
received into the Church at Rome without baptism, may
have been rejected on their return to Asia : or some who
had been re ected in Asia may have been received at
Rome ; and in either case, the discipline of a particular
Church, which every other Church ought to respect, was
dishonoured. But, from whatever causes, Stephen became
all at once highly indignant at the error, as he thought it,
of the Asiatic Churches, and wrote to Asia concerning
Helenus and Firmilian, and the rest of the Bishops of
those parts, threatening to withdraw from their commu-
nion, because they repeated the baptism of heretics.
While affairs w^re in this posture between Asia and
Rome, a question was put to Cyprian by some Numidian
bishops upon the very matter which was then embroiling
the Eastern Church with Rome. But Cyprian's answer
will put us in possession of his own judgment upon the
disputed question, with that of the thirty-two bishops
assembled with him in council.
CYPRIAN. 355
He declares it then to be an undoubted truth that " no
one can be baptized out of the Church, since there is but
one baptism appointed, and that in the holy Church ; and
since it is written, They have left me, the fountain of
living water, and have hewn out for themselves broken
cisterns, which can hold no water. And again, another
Scripture speaks in a voice of warning ; Abstain from
strange water, and of a fountain of strange water drink
not. The water, therefore, should first be cleansed and
sanctified by the priest, that it may avail by its use in
baptism to w^ash away the sins of him who is immersed in
it. But how can he cleanse and sanctify the water who is
himself unclean, and upon whom the Holy Ghost is not ;
for the Lord saith, Whatsoever the unclean person touch-
eth shall be unclean ?
" Besides, the very interrogation which is made at
baptism is a witness of the truth. For when we say,
' Dost thou believe in eternal life, and in the remission of
sins by the Holy Church?' we mean that remission of
sins is not given except in the Church ; but that among
the heretics, where the Church is not, sins cannot be
remitted.
" Moreover, he who is baptized must also be anointed,
that when he has received the chrism, that is, the unction,
he may be indeed the anointed of God, and have in him
the grace of Christ. Now% there is an Eucharistic oblation
of oil, from the matter of which the baptized are anointed,
after the oil has been consecrated on the altar ; but he
cannot have consecrated the creature of oil, who had
neither an altar nor a church. Whence, again, there
can be no spiritual unction among heretics, since it is
quite clear that oil cannot be consecrated and made an
Eucharistic oblation by them. And we ought to bear in
mind the Scripture, Let not the oil of a sinner anoint
mine head. And this warning the Holy Spirit gave
beforehand in the Psalms, lest any leaving his proper
course, and wandering from the path of truth, should be
aiiointed by heretics, and the enemies of Christ.
356 CYPRIAN.
"And, yet again, what sort of prayer can the sacrilegious
and sinful priest offer for the baptized, since it is said,
God heareth not a sinner ; but if any worshippeth Him,
and^doeth His will, him He heareth?
" But who can give that which he hath not? or how can
he, who has himself lost the Holy Spirit, minister spiritual
gifts ?
" Finally, to consent to the validity of the baptism of
heretics and schismatics is in effect to approve of it. For
in this case, either all or none is validly performed. If
the heretic could baptize, he could also give the Holy
Ghost. But if he who is without the Church canuot give
the Holy Ghost, because he is himself without the Holy
Ghost, neither can he baptize the convert : for there is
one baptism, and one Holy Spirit, and one Church,
founded by the Lord Christ upon Peter, [or upon a rock .]
so that in its very foundation it may bear the mark of
unity. Hence it follows, that since among them every
thing is false and empty, nothing of their doing in such
matters ought to be acknowledged by us."
The same question is discussed in one or two other
epistles about this time ; and now it had become evident
that the Bishop of Rome was proceeding to violent counsels,
and Cyprian was the more anxious to obtain the highest
authority in vindication of the truth. He assembled, there-
fore, a second synod of seventy-two bishops. The decision
of this'synod was the same as that of the preceding, and
Cyprian lays it before Stephen, as the synodical determin-
ation of the province over which he presided.
Another opponent to the rule of Cyprian and his com-
provincials occurs in the person of one Jubaianus. As he
proposes some new arguments, we will give the substance
of Cyprian's answer. Some, it seems, argued, that since
Nova ti an affected to baptize those who deserted to him from
the Church, therefore the Church ought to receive heretics
without baptism, lest Catholics should seem so far to sym-
bolize with Novatian, and to have borrowed his custom.
In answer to this notable argument, St. Cyprian ob-
CYPRIAN. 357
serves that it would be as reasonable to put off the proper
conduct of humanity, because in some things apes have
imitated men ; as for the Church to desert her customs,
because they had been aped by Novatian. And he argues,
ad hominem, (and the argument is of very general applica-
tion, and well worth repeating,) *' Is it really to be held
a sufficient reason for not doing this, that Novatian has
done it ? What then ? Since Novatian usurps the honour
of an episcopate, are we to renounce our episcopacy ? Or,
because Novatian endeavours to erect an altar, and against
all right to offer sacrifice, are we to desert our altar, and
to relinquish our sacrifice ?"
An argument more worthy of Cyprian's attention occurs
next : one, indeed, which hinged on the very principle on
which the Church Catholic afterwards determined the
present question. I find, says Cyprian, in the letter
which you transmitted to me, a notion, that we ought not
to enquire who was the minister of baptism in any par-
ticular case ; since the baptized may receive remission of
sins, according to that which he believed ; as that Mar-
cionites, for instance, need not to be baptized, since they
have received a semblance of baptism, in the name of
Jesus Christ.
Let us take Cyprian's solution of this difficulty in his
own words.
" We ought therefore to examine the faith of those who
believe, out of the Church, to determine whether it be
such as that they can on account of it obtain any grace.
For if there be but one faith common to us and to
heretics, there may be one grace also. If the Patri-
passians, for instance, the Valentiniani, the Ophitae, the
Marcionites, and other pestilent sects., the very poison and
dagger of the truth, confess the same Father, the same
Son, the same Holy Spirit, the same Church, that we
confess, they may share with us in our baptism, since
their faith also is one with ours. Let us examine the case
of Marcion for instance. Now does Marcion hold the
doctrine of the Trinity ? Does he ascribe creation to the
358 CYPRIAN.
same Father with us ? Does he recognize the same Son,
Christ born of the Virgin Mary, Who is the word made
flesh, Who bare our sins, Who by His death conquered
death, Who was the first-fruits and the promise of the
resurrection to us, in His flesh, so as to assure His disci-
ples that they also should rise in the same flesh ? Far
different is the faith of Marcion, and of the rest of the
heretics ! How, therefore, can it be made to appear, that
they who are baptized among them can receive remission
of sins, and the grace of God, on account of their faith,
when their very faith itself is a lie ? For if as some
imagine, one who is without the Church, can receive any
thing according to his faith ; surely he must receive that
which he believes : he then who believes a lie cannot
receive the truth ; but rather, accoi'ding to his faith, he
receives impurity and profanation.
" Again, if one could be baptized among heretics, he
might also receive remission of sins : and with remission
of sins, sanctification ; and he is made the temple of God.
But, I ask, of what God? Not of the Creator; for in
Him he believes not. Not of Christ ; for he denies that
Christ is God. Not of the Holy Ghost; f)r since the Three
are one God, how can the Holy Ghost be propitiated by him,
who is the enemy either of the Father or of the Son ?"
Such expressions were of course open to the imputation
of bigotry, from those who could not understand, that the
most energetic maintenance of the truth, the utmost
hatred of error, is not inconsistent with true love, and
personal forbearance. Against the pseudo-charity, there-
fore, or liberalism of some, he presents the following
admirable exposition of a passage from the epistle to the
Philippiiins, which had been claimed then, as it is con-
tinually now, as favouring such principles.
" As f(n' the fancy of some, that the words of St. Paul,
Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretence or truth,
let Christ be preached, afford any sanction to the proceed-
ings of heretics, we are convinced that they give no sup-
port either to heretics or to their abettors. For, in truth,
CYPRIAN; 359
St. Paul was not speaking of heretics, or of any thing
concerning them. The two classes of persons whose
preaching he mentions, were both of the brethren ; though
some were disorderly in their conduct, and regardless of
the laws of the Church, while the rest preserved the truth
of the Gospel with a due reverence and fear. Now while
some of these constantly and boldly preached the word of
the Lord, and some of envy and ill will ; while some
maintained a sincere love for his person, but others were
filled with hatred and malevolence; he patiently endured
all, since, whether in pretence or in truth, the name of
Christ, which he also preached, came to the knowledge of
many; and the preaching of all, though perhaps some
were novices and imperfectly taught, yet prevailed to the
spread of truth. Now surely it is one thing for those who
are within the Church to speak of Christ ; and another
for those who are without the Church, and its enemies, to
baptize in the name of Christ. Let not those then who
would vindicate the proceedings of heretics, adduce the
expressions of St. Paul concerning brethren : but let them
point out some place in which he grants that any thing is
to be conceded to heretics, in which he approves their
faith and baptism, in which he has taught that they who
are in schism, and are blasphemers, can obtain remission
of their sins, without the pale of the Church." He then
proceeds to note what St. Paul does say of heretics, and
of the zeal with which we should oppose their errors ; and
the fear with which we should renounce their fellowship.
The argument of expediency was also pressed against
St. Cyprian's rule ; it was objected, that the necessity of
being baptized would repel heretics from the Church, and
that it would bring on the Church unnecessary odium.
These objections St. Cyprian answers with characteristic
courage and decision, plainly declaring, that in such cases
the boldest way, that of the highest principle is the best.
As for the heretics, if their baptism be admitted, it will
tend to make them think, from the very testimony of the
Church, that they in their separation are not cut off from
000 CYrRIAN.
(he privilege of true Christians ; but if they find that their
baptism is disallowed, they will perhaps, be alarmed into
a more serious view of their position, and make the greater
haste to regain the privileges which they have lost. As
for the dreaded odium of rebajotizing : if we dare not incur
this, shall we not involve ourselves in a greater difficulty?
for if we grant a true baptism to heretics, we grant that
not right and prescription, but mere and usurped poiises-
sion, is the only title to this privilege : and thus one of
the noblest parts of the appanage of the Church is not
only seized by others, but yielded by ourselves. But how
perilous it may be to surrender our rights in spiritual
matters, we are divinely taught by the example of Esau ;
who found no place for repentance, having sold his birth-
right.
Stephen from the first interfered in the question with
extreme arrogance, and with an intemperance which we
are at a loss to reconcile with the charity of a Christian
Jiishop. Cyprian and the Church of Carthage laboured
for peace, but in vain, and the last effort which the Africans
made to retain peace with Rome, seems to have been after
Stephen had so scandalously abused Cyprian, as to call
him a false Christ, a false Apostle, a deceitful worker;
and after he had fulminated his excommunications against
the whole Church of Carthage. Even after this the
Africans sent messengers to Rome to bring things to a
better state if possible ; but their message was rejected,
and their envoys treated with disrespect and contumely.
Things being now in such a deplorable condition,
Cyprian, seeking countenance in the consent of good and
great men in the Church, communicated the whole affair
to Firmilian, one of those Asiatic Bishops who were
already in the same condemnation with himself, and for
the same cause. Firmilian had been a pupil of Origen ;
he was Bishop of Cesaraea, in Cappadocia, and was a
prelate of great note in his day : and his long reply to
Cyprian's communication amply sustains his character
with posterity.
CYPRIAN. 361
It is enough to add, that his judgment is wholly the
same as that of Cyprian.
But the most important step which Cyprian took was
the calling a council of eighty-five bishops, at which also
the priests and deacons with much people were present,
and at which, without a single dissentient voice, the judg-
ment of Cyprian was affirmed. Thus the eighty-five
bishops assembled at this council, with two others who
voted therein by proxy, unanimously agreed, that heretics
ought to be baptized on their conversion to the Church ;
and thus, by their synodical act, they deliberately chose
the condemnation of Stephen and his Church, before
a submission to that authority, when their consciences
were opposed to its dictates. They were already, indeed,
excommunicated by Stephen ; unless we rather hold with
Firmilian, that Stephen, by his excommunication of the
African churches, had cut himself off from the Church of
Christ. But in thus voluntarily binding the burden of
his anathema upon themselves, rather than bending be-
neath the weight of a new custom imposed by his Church,
surely the African bishops in the council spoke volumes,
as to their judgment of Rome as an infallible Church, and
of her bishop as the centre of unity.
The external peace of the Church, which left opportu-
nity for these internal discords, was disturbed, before they
were well hushed. Valerian had been hitherto most
friendly to the Christians, but now, at the instigation of
his minister, Macrianus, he became a persecutor, and
issued decrees to the several parts of his empire, for the
suppression of Christianity.
In September, '^57, the imperial edict reached Carthage,
where Paternus was pro-consul ; and Cyprian, as the most
prominent in character and office among the Christians,
was the first to be summoned before the heathen tribunal.
Of what passed on that occasion, we have a circumstantial
record in the acts of St. Cyprian, bishop and martyr.
" The most sacred Emperors, Valerianus and Gallienus,
-have honoured me with their commands," said Paternus,
VOL. IV. 2 M
362 CYPRIAN.
•' to exact of those, who worship not the gods of Rome, a
due recognitioD of the Roman rites. I would examine
you therefore concerning your name and profession : what
is your answer ?" I am a Christian", said Cyprian, " and
a Bishop. I know no other gods but that One only and
true God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and
all that therein is. Him do we Christians serve : Him
night and day do we supplicate for ourselves, for all men,
and for the preservation of the Emperors themselves."
Paternus asked ; "Do you persist in this determina-
tion ?" Cyprian replied : " A good determination, taken
up in the knowledge of God, is unchangeable." " Are
you ready, then," said the j^ro-cousul, " according to the
edict of Valerian and Gallienus, to be exiled to the city of
Gurubis?" " I am ready," said Cyprian.
Then the pro-consul, having thus received the profession
of Cyprian, and appointed the place of his banishment,
endeavoured to extort from him the name of others who
were obnoxious to the same sentence. " My commission
extends," said he, " not only to the bishops, but also to
the presbyters of your party : 1 ask you, then, who are the
presbyters in the city ?" The bishop replied, " your laws
have well provided against the abuse of informers ; in
obedience to them I refuse to betray my brethren : they
may be found, however, in their own places." " But I
will know who they are now, and in this place," said
Paternus. Cyprian said, "It is equally contrary to the
discipline of their order, and to the spirit of your laws,
that they should expose themselves unforced : yet they
may be found by you, if you do but seek them out."
Paternus said, "They shall be found out: for I have
commanded that none shall hold assemblies any where,
nor enter your cemeteries ; and if any venture to dis-
obey this wholesome provision they shall suffer death."
Cyprian replied : " Obey the orders which you have
received."
Cyprian had been eleven months in his exile, and in
the interval Galerius Maximus had succeeded Aspasius
CYPRIAN. 363
Paternus in the proconsulate. The new proconsul recalled
Cyprian, though not for any purposes of mercy ; but
rather, in all probability, that he might be more entirely
within his power.
At length the glorious day of his martyrdom dawned,
and he was conveyed to the residence of the proconsul,
still accompanied by his affectionate children in the faith.
When he arrived at the Praetorium, the proconsul had
not yet taken his seat on the tribunal ; he was permitted
therefore to retire to a less public place, and there, hot
and tired with his journey, he reclined on a seat which
had been accidently left covered with a linen cloth : so
that in the very article of his passion, he was not without
some insignia of his sacred function. One of the guard,
who had formerly been a Christian, offered him a change
of vestments, proposing to keep the garments of the
martyr as a valuable relic ; but Cyprian rejected the
proffered luxury, observing on the folly of too solicitous
a use of remedies for those evils, which can last but for
a day.
At length Galerius Maximus assumed his place in the
judgment-hall, and Cyprian being brought before him, he
said, " Art thou Thascius Cyprian ?" Cyprian answered,
**Iam." "Art thou he," said Maximus, "who hath
borne the highest offices of their religion, among the
Christians ?" " Yes," answered the bishop. " The most
sacred Emperors have commanded that you offer sacrifice,"
said the proconsul. "I will not offer sacrifice," replied
Cyprian. " Be persuaded," said the proconsul, " for your
own sake." Cyprian replied, "Do thou as thou hast
received orders : for me, in so just a cause, no persuasion
can move me." After these words he pronounced from
his tablet, " Let Thascius Cyprian be beheaded."
" Thanks be to God !" said Cyprian : and the crowd of
Christians who surrounded him exclaimed, " Let us die
with him !"
The holy martyr was then led away, followed by a great
concourse of people, to an open field near the place where
S64 CYPRIAN.
he had received his sentence ; and having put o£F the rest
of his garments, and committed them to the deacous, he
first prostrated himself in pra3^er to God, and then stood
in his inner vestments, prepared for the fatal stroke. He
tied the bandage over his eyes with his own hands ; and
that he might owe that office to friends which he could not
himself perform, Julian, a presbyter, and a sub-deacon of
the same name, bound his hands. To the executioner he
appropriated a gift of twenty-five pieces of gold : the
Christians, whose avarice was not mercenary, sought no
other memorials than handkerchiefs dyed with the blood
of their bishop. The body was for a while exposed to the
gaze of the heathen ; but having been removed by night,
by the brethren, it was buried in the Mappalian way.
Two churches afterwards marked the spots which had
been consecrated by his death and by his burial.
Thus died Thascius Csecilius Cyprian, with a courage
too common in those days to excite our surprise, but of
such intrinsic merit as to demand our admiration. He
was the first Bishop of Carthage who had attained to the
crown of martyrdom ; and he was truly worthy of this
high distinction. Few men have more forcibly arrested
.the affections of their associates : few have more powerfully
influenced the opinions of others ; none have been more
honoured by posterity. The wish which broke from the
tumultuous assembly at his condemnation, to die with
him, was uttered afterwards coolly and solemnly by his
deacon Pontius : but his widowed Church rather lamented
her own misfortune than his ; and soon learned to glory
in his crown more than she lamented her own loss. His
name was long a household word with the Church which
he had governed, and even the heathen paid to his
memory the tribute of respect. — The Life, or rather Pane-
gyric, of St. Cyprian by Pontius his Deacon. The Life of
Cyprian in the Benedictine Edition of his Works, and in
that of Bishops Pearson and Fell: and Poole s Life and
Times of St. Cyprian.
CYRIL. 365
CYBIL.
Saint Cyril, of Jerusalem, was born probably about
the year 315, and though the place of his birth is unknown,
he was certainly educated at Jerusalem. He was ordained
deacon probably by Macarius, and priest by Maximus,
Bishops of Jerusalem, the latter of whom he succeeded in
349 or 350. Shortly before this, in 347 or 348, before he
was bishop, he delivered the Catechetical Lectures which
have come down to us. The circumstances of his conse-
cration were unfortunate, it being certain that Acacius of
Oaesarea, was one of his consecrators, and Acacius was
one of the leaders of Arianism in the East, who, in 347,
had been deposed by the council of Sardica. It ought to
be remembered, however, that the council of Sardica was
at first as little acknowledged by the Orthodox as by the
Arians, and Cyril was a moderate man, avoiding as much
as possible party spirit ; when, therefore, he was canonically
consecrated by the Bishops of the province, and among
them Acacius appeared, he did not object to him. But
St. Cyril did not remain long on good terms with Acacius.
Acacius, notwithstanding his deposition by the council of
Sardica, continued to occupy the see of Csesarea, and he
soon entered into a controversy on the subject of his
metropolitan rights w^ith St. Cyril, who, possessing an
apostolical see, alleged, that he was independent of his
jurisdiction ; the difference between them was augmented
by the opposition of their opinions : for Acacius preached
up Arianism, and St. Cyril followed the Catholic faith,
maintaining the consubstantiality of the Son, and accusing
the other of error in his faith. Acacius, who had a piercing
wit, and was very active, was before-hand with St. Cyril,
and cited him frequently ; but St. Cyril, not acknowledging
him as his superior, took care not to appear. During
this time Acacius made use of the pretence of his not
appearing to get him deposed in a council, for having
refused for two successive years to answer the accusations
VOL IV. 2n
366 CYRIL,
alleged against him : the chief heads of the accusation
against St. Cyril were, that he had sold the treasures of
the Church. True it is, that the territories of Jerusalem
being afflicted with famine, the people chiefly applied to
St. Cyril for relief ; but as he had no money, he sold cer-
tain vessels and rich stuffs which were reserved for the
service of the Church. It was alleged, that after this, a
certain person met an actress dressed in a rich stuff which
himself had given to the Church ; upon which, he with
great exactness informed himself where she had got it,
and found that she had bought it of a shop-keeper who
had bought it of the Bishop. These are the pretences
which Acacius made use of to depose St. Cyril.
Not believing himself justly condemned, he appealed to
a higher tribunal, and sent the appeal to those who had
opposed him ; the Emperor Constantius authorized this
appeal, yet was it esteemed irregular, and St. Cjril accused
for being the first that ever appealed from an ecclesiastical
jurisdiction, as if it had been a secular tribunal. Acacius
not only deposed St. Cyril, but also drove him out of
Jerusalem : Cyril went to Antioch, which he found with-
out a Bishop, for Leontius was dead, and had not yet
a successor. He therefore went to Tarsus, and lived with
Sylvanus the Bishop. Acacius being informed of it, wrote
to Sylvanus, and gave him an account of St. Cyril's being
deposed ; but notwithstanding this, Sylvanus did not hin-
der him from officiating in the Church, as well on account
of the respect which he had for him, as in consideration of
the people who received his instructions with a great deal
of satisfaction.
Although, during his exile, he certainly associated occa-
sionally with Semi-Arians, yet his orthodoxy is, from his
works, unquestionable. In 359, two years after his depo-
sition, he appealed with success against Acacius to the
council of Seleucia, but the' next year, through, the influ-
ence of Acacius with the Emperor Constantius, he was
again deposed, and banished from Palestine.
CYRIL. 367
On the accession of Julian the Apostate, who desired to
sow the seeds of confusion in all the Churches, the ban-
ished Bishops were permitted to return to their sees ; and
in 365 Cyril returned to Jerusalem. And here he wit-
nessed Julian's attempt to rebuild the temple, and from
the prophecies predicted its failure.
To rebuild the temple was thought by the apostate
Emperor to be the surest method of refuting Christianity,
and of proving our prophecies to be unworthy of credit.
He encouraged the Jews, therefore, to set about the work.
Never was any miracle more fully confirmed by evidence
than this. Bishop Warburton has ably answered all that
can be advanced by the sceptics, and even the sceptical
Jortin is obliged to confess, "after all, it is an ugly circum-
stance, I wish we could get fairly rid of it." The uglines.s
of the circumstance being, that Archdeacon Jortin was
determined not to believe, and yet could give no sound
reason for his infidelity; for, as Bishop Warburton remarks :
*' No believer, but must conclude that God would indeed
interpose to vindicate the character of His Son : no man,
but must confess that to support a religion like this, was
an occasion worthy the interposition of the Lord of all
things."
The account of the failure of this attempt to rebuild the
temple, shall be given in the words of Arminianus Mar-
cellinus, a heathen, and an admirer of Julian. " Julian
committed the conduct of this affair to Alypius of Antioch,
who formerly had been lieutenant in Britain. When, there-
fore, this Alypius had set himself to the vigorous execu-
tion of his charge, in which he had all the assistance that
the governor of the province could afford him, horrible
balls of fire breaking out near the foundations, with fre-
quent and reiterated attacks, rendered the place from time
to time inaccessible to the scorched and blasted workmen,
and the victorious element continuing in this manner,
obstinately and resolutely bent, as it were, to drive them
to a distance, Alypius thought best to give over the enter-
prize."
368 CYRIL.
St. Cyril was again driven into banishment under the
Arian Emperor Valens, and remained in exile from 367
to 378.
Valens was the last of the x\rian Emperors, and
with him the Arian party fell in the East. A union
between all Christian Churches then took place, as they
had been kept asunder rather by party prejudices than
by principles, the differences having been fostered
by the ambition of eloquent Arian preachers. In the
second general council, held at Constantinople, in 381, U>
appease the troubles of the East, and to condemn the
heresy of Macedonius, who blasphemously taught that the
Holy Ghost was a creature, we find Gregory of Nyssa,
Gregory Nazianzen, and Meletius of Antioch, sitting with
Cyril, and all of them united in sentiment. By this
council he was restored to his see ; and, as if to refute the
calumny of his being an Arian, he is described as " the
Reverend and religious Cyril, in many ways and places a
withstander of the Arians." He died about 386.
" I know of no writer," says Dr. Waterland, " who has
given a fuller, or clearer, or in the main, juster account of
the holy Eucharist, than this the elder Cyril has done ;
though he has often been strangely misconstrued by con-
tending parties. The true and ancient notions of the
Eucharist came now to be digested into somewhat of a
more regular and accurate form, and the manner of speak-
ing of it became, as it were, fixed and settled upon rules
of art. Cyril expresses himself thus, ' receive we [the
Eucharist] with all fulness of faith, as the Body and Blood
of Christ : for, under the type [or symbol] of bread, you
have His body given you, and under the type [symbol] of
wine, you receive His Blood ; that so partaking of the
Body and Blood of Christ, you may become flesh of His
Flesh, and blood of His Blood. For, by this means, we
carry Christ about us, in as much as His Body and Blood
are distributed into our members : thus do we become,
according to St. Peter, partakers of the Divine nature.'
The doctrine here taught is, that in the Eucharist wo
CYRIL. 369
receive (not literally, but symbolically) the natural Body
and Blood of Christ ; just as the priests of old, in eating
the sacrifices, symbolically, but effectually, ate up the sins
of the people, or as the faithful Israelites, in eating manna
and drinking of the rock, effectually fed upon Christ.
The symbolical Body and Blood are here supposed by our
author to supply the place of the natural, and to be in
construction and beneficial effect (not substantially) the
same thing with it ; and so he speaks of our becoming
by that means one flesh and one blood with Christ, mean-
ing it in as high a sense, as all the members of Christ
are one body, or as man and wife are one flesh. We carry
Christ about us, as we are mystically united to Him.
His Body and Blood are considered as intermingled with
ours, when the symbols of them really and strictly are so :
for the benefit is completely the same ; and God accepts
of such symbolical union, making it, to all saving pur-
poses and intents, as effectual, as any the most real could
be. Cyril never thought of any presence of Christ's
natural Body and Blood in the Sacrament, excepting in
mystery and figure, (which he expresses by the word type)
and in real benefits and privileges.
" He goes on to obseiTe, that our Lord once told the
Jews (John vi. 54.) of eating His flesh, &c. And they not
understanding that it was spoken spiritually, [but taking
the thing literally.] were offended at it, as if He had been
persuading them to devour His flesh. Hence it appears
farther, that our author was no friend to the gross, literal
construction. He proceeds as follows ; ' Under the New
Testament we have that heavenly bread, and a cup of
salvation, sanctifying both body and soul; for as bread
answers to body, so the logos suits with the soul.' This
thought may be compared with another of Clemens above,
somewhat like, and somewhat different. But both agree
in two main points, that the Eucharist sanctifies the
worthy receiver both in body and soul, and that Christ is
properly present in His divine nature. Wherefore Cyril
370 CYRIL.
had the more reason for pressing his exhortation after-
wards in high and lofty terms : ' consider them [the ele-
ments] not as mere bread and wine ; for by our Lord's
express declaration, they are the Body and Blood of
Christ. And though your taste may suggest that to you,
[viz. that they are mere bread and wine,] yet let your faith
keep you firm. Judge not of the thing by your taste, but
under a full persuasion of faith, be ye undoubtedly
assured, that you are vouchsafed the Body and Blood of
Christ.' This he said to draw off the minds of his audi-
ence from low and carnal apprehensions, that so they
might view those mysteries with the eye of faith, and not
merely with the eye of sense ; might look through the
outward sign, to the inward thing signified, and regale
their spiritual taste more than the sensual. This is what
Cyril really meant : though some mbderns, coming to
read him either with transubstantiation or consubstantia-
tion in their heads, have amused themselves with odd
constructions of very innocent words.
" As to his exhorting his audience not to take the ele-
ments for mere bread and wine, it is just such another
kind of address as he had before made to them, first in
relation to the waters of Baptism, and next with regard to
the Chrism. ' Look not to this laver, as to ordinary
water, but (attend) to the grace conferred with the water.'
Would any sensible man conclude from hence, that the
water was transubstantiated, according to our author, into
some other substance ; Let us go on to what he says of
the chrism. ' Have a care of suspecting that this is ordi-
nary ointment, [or mere ointment;] for, like as the sacra-
mental bread, after the invocation of the Holy Spirit, is
no more bare bread, but the Body of Christ, so also this
holy unguent is no more bare ointment, nor to be called
common, after the invocation ; but it is the grace of Christ "
and of the Holy Spirit, endowed with special energy by
the presence of His Godhead ; and it is symbolically
spread over the forehead and other parts of the body. So
CYRIL. 371
then the body is anointed with the visible unguent, but
the soul is sanctioned by the enlivening Spirit.'
" I cite not this, as approving all that Cyril has here said
of the chrism, (not standing upon Scripture authority,)
but to give light to what he has said of the Eucharist,
which he compares with the other, while he supposes the
cases parallel. He conceived the elements in one case,
and the unguent in the other, to be exhibitive symbols of
spiritual graces, instrumentally conveying what they repre-
sent. The bread and wine, according to his doctrine, are
symbolically the Body and Blood : and by symbolically
he means the very same thing which I have otherwise
expressed by saying, that they are the Body and Blood in
just construction and beneficial efifect. What Cyril feared
with respect to Baptism, and the Eucharist, and the
Unction, was, that many in low life (coming perhaps from
the plough, the spade, or the pale) might be dull of appre-
hension, and look no higher than to what they saw, felt,
or tasted. Upon the like suspicion was grounded the
ancient solemn preface to the Communion Service, called
Sursum Corda by the Latins : wherein the officiating
minister admonished the communicants to lift up their
hearts, and they made answer. We lift them up unto the
Lord.
" To make the point we have been upon still plainer,
let Cyril be heard again, as he expresses the thing in a
succeeding lecture. ' You hear the Psalmist with divine
melody inviting you to the communion of the holy mys-
teries, and saying, Taste and see how gracious the Lord
is. Leave it not to the bodily palate to judge : no, but to
faith clear of all doubting. For the tasters are not com-
manded to taste bread and wine, but the antitype [sym-
bol] of the Body and Blood of Christ.' Here our author
plainly owns the elements to be types, or symbols, (as he
had done also before,) and therefore not the very things
whereof they are symbols ; not literally and strictly, but
interpretatively, mystically, and to all saving pui^poses and
372 CYRIL.
intents ; which suflaces. It is no marvel if Mr. Toutee
and other Romanists interpret Cjril to quite another
purpose : but one may justly wonder how the learned and
impartial Dr. Grabe should construe Cyril in that gross
sense, which he mentions under the name of augmenta-
tion. I presume, he read Cyril with an eye to modern
controversy, and did not consider him as speaking to
mechanics and day-labourers : or, he was not aware of the
difference there is, between telling men what they are to
believe, and what they ought to attend to, which was
Cyril's chief aim. As to believing, he very well knew that
every one would believe his senses, and take bread to be
bread, and wine to be wine, as himself believed also : but
he was afraid of their attending so entirely to the report
of their senses, as to forget the reports of sacred Writ,
which ought to be considered at the same time, and with
closer attention than the other, as being of everlasting
concernment. In short, he intended no lecture of faith
against eyesight : but he endeavoured, as much as possi-
ble, to draw off their attention from the objects of sense
to the object of faith, and from the signs to the things
signified.
' "It has been urged, as of moment, that Cyril compared
the change made in the Eucharist to the miraculous
change of water into wine wrought by our Lord in Cana
of Galilee. It is true that he did so : but similitudes
commonly are no arguments of any thing more than of
some general resemblance. There was power from above
in that case, and so is there in this : and it may be justly
called a supernatural power; not upon the elements
to change their nature, but upon the communicants to
add spiritual strength to their souls. The operation in
the Eucharist is no natural work of any creature, but
the supernatural grace of God's Holy Spirit. Therefore
Cyril's thought was not much amiss, in resembling one
supernatural operation to another, agreeing in the general
thing, differing in specialities. In a large sense of the
CYRIL. 373
word miracle, there are miracles of grace, as well as
miracles of nature ; and the same Divine power operates
in both, but in a different way, as the ends and objects
are different."
Socrates. Sozomen. Theodoret. Cave. Warhiirton. Wa-
terland. Ammiamis MarcelUnus.
This Father was raised up by the Providence of God
to defend the faith of the Incarnation of His only Be-
gotten Son, of which mystery he is styled the doctor, as
St. Augustine is the doctor of the mystery of grace. He
was brought up under Serapion, on Mount Nitria. He
displayed great diligence in study, and is said to have
known the New Testament by heart. After five years'
abode on Mount Nitria, his uncle Theophilus, Bishop of
Alexandria, summoned him to that town, and ordained
him. He expounded and preached with great reputation.
The works of Origen he held in abhorrence, and would
neither read them himself nor have communication with
those who did ; but he was well read in the works of the
Fathers who preceded him. In the year 412 he suc-
ceeded his uncle in the see of Alexandria. His election,
however, was not carried without difficulty, as many
wished to elect the Archdeacon Timotheus. Abundantius,
who commanded the forces, took part with the latter,
and a tumult actually occurred : however, Cyril prevail-
ed, and was enthroned three days after the death of
Theophilus. The victory which he had gained over the
opposite party, gave him more authority than Theophilus
himself had enjoyed ; and from that time the bishops
of Alexandria exceeded a little the limits of the spi-
ritual power, and assumed some share in the temporal
government. The first thing Cyril did was to shut up
the churches of the Novatians, and to seize on all their
treasures.
VOL. ly. 3 o
374 CYRIL.
The early days of his episcopate were days of trouble ;
a«d several circumstances occurred in which it is impos-
sible to justify the conduct of Cyril. The impetuosity of
his temper hurried him into some excesses. He was thus
active in driving the Jews from Alexandria, under the
following circumstances. One day, as Orestes, governor
of the city, was making proclamations in the theatre,
several Christians, who were attached to the bishop, drew
near to hear the ordinances of the governor ; and among
others, a certain man named Hierax, who was master of a
crrammar school, a zealous auditor of the bishop, and a
most active man in exciting plaudits in his sermons.
The Jews, always hostile to the Christians, and at that
time particularly provoked on the subject of certain
dancers, seeing Hierax in the theatre, immediately cried
out that he only came to excite a tumult. Orestes had
been long offended at the power of the bishops, which
lessened that of the governors, and therefore believing
that St. Cyril meant to control his ordinances, he caused
Hierax to be seized, and scourged publicly in the theatre.
When St. Cyril heard this, he sent for the principal Jews,
and threatened them with severe punishments, unless
they gave over raising tumults against the Christians ;
but this only exasperated the multitude the more. They
resolved to attack the Christians by night, and having
taken for a sign of recognition among themselves rings
made of the bark of young palm-branches, they cried
through the city that the church of Alexandria was on fire.
The Christians repaired thither from all parts, and the
Jews fell upon them, and killed a great number of them.
On the next day the authors of this massacre were dis-
covered, and St. Cyril went with a great body of people
to the Jews' synagogues, and having taken possession of
them, he expelled the Jews from the city, and delivered
up their property to be plundered. Thus were the Jews
expelled from Alexandria, where they lived ever since the
time of Alexander the Great, its founder. Orestes took
this proceeding very ill, and looked upon it as a great
CYEIL. 375
misfortune, that such a city should lose at once so great a
number of inhabitants. He made his rejoort of the matter
to the Emperor, to whom St. Cyril likewise wrote an ac-
count of the crimes of the Jews.
However, being solicited by the people, he sent to
Orestes lo propose a reconciliation, and conjured him to
agree to it, even by the books of the Gospels ; but Orestes
would not hear of it. Then the monks of Mount Nitria,
who had zealously espoused the interest of the Bishop
Theophilus against Dioscorus, and the Four Brothers, left
their monasteries and came to Alexandria, to the number
of five hundred. They kept watch for the governor
Orestes as he was going abroad in his chariot ; and
coming up to him, they called him pagan and idolater,
with other injurious names. Orestes suspecting that
Cyril had laid a snare for him, cried out that he was a
Christian, and that he had been baptized by the Bishop
Atticus at Constantinople : but the monks would not hear
him, and one of them, whose name was Ammonius, stnick
him on the head with a stone, which covered him with
blood. His officers, terrified at the shower of stones, dis-
persed ; but the people came to his assistance, and put
the monks to flight. Ammonius was taken, and carried
before the governor, who brought him to trial, and tortured
him to death. St. Cyril took up his body and laid it in
a church, changing his name into that of Thaumasius, or
"Admirable," and would have had him acknowledged for
a martyr, but the wisest among the Christians did not
approve of this proceeding, for they saw that Ammonius
had undergone the punishment of his rashness, and soon
after St. Cyril himself suffered the affair to drop into
silence and oblivion.
The people did not stop there. They pretended that
an illustrious lady, named Hypatia, prevented the prsefect
Orestes from being reconciled to the bishop. She was
daughter to the philosopher Theon, and so learned that
she excelled all the philosophers of her time. She had
succeeded to the Platonic school, and taught in public, so
376 CYRIL.
that people came to her from all parts : and we have
several letters from Synesius to her, in which he acknow-
ledges himself her disciple. Her learning was attended
with great modesty, which gained her much respect and
influence with the magistrates. She used often to see
Orestes, which gave occasion to the suspicion that she
incensed him against St. Cyril. On this a set of violent
men, headed by a reader named Peter, watched for her
one day, as she was going home to her house, pulled her
out of her carriage, and dragged her to the church called
CsEsareum ; they stripped off her clothes, killed her with
the blows of broken pots, tore her to pieces, and burned
her limbs at a place called Cinaro. " This action," says
the historian Socrates, " brought great reproach upon
Cyril, and on the Church of Alexandria ; for such acts of
violence are very far removed from Christianity." Then
he adds, " This happened in the fourth year of the
episcopate of Cyril, under the tenth consulate of Hono-
rius, and the sixth of Theodosius, in the month of
March, during the Fasts," that is, in the Lent of tlie
year 415.
After this we hear little of St. Cyril until the com-
mencement of the Nestorian controversy in 529. We
may therefore presume that he was growing in that grace
by which his natural impetuosity of character ripened into
real Christian zeal. He shewed himself indeed during
this time open to conviction ; for, having inherited from
his uncle, the late bishop, certain prejudices against
St Chrysostom, he listened to the persuasions of Isidore
of Pelusium, and set down his name in the Ecclesiastical
Ptegister, thereby declaring that his deposition had been
unjust. The churches of Egypt, Lilvya, and Pentapolis,
had, before this, taken the opposite side in this question.
Tha Pope of Rome had no more authority in those days
than any other patriarch ; for, from the time of the depo-
sition of St. Chrysostom until this year 419, the churches
of Alexandria and of Rome, differing on this subject, were
not in communion ; the communion between the two
CYRIL. 377
churches was now restored. From this it will be seen
that communion with the see of Rome was not regarded
by the Alexandrians, any more than now by Anglicans, as
indispensable.
The origin of the Nestorian controversy was this : Nes-
torius, being aj^pointed Bishop of Constantinople, brought
with him from Antioch the priest Anastasius, his syn-
cellus and confidant. He preaching one day in the
church of Constantinople said, " Let no one call Mary
mother of God ; for she was a woman, and it is impossible
that God should be born of a human creature." These
words gave great offence to many both of the clergy and
laity: "for they had always been taught," says the his-
torian Socrates, " to acknowledge Jesus Christ as God,
and not to sever Him in any way from the Divinity."
Nestorius, however, declared his assent to what the priest
xlnastasius had thus advanced, and several sermons which
he delivered on the subject are still extant.
Immense excitement was occasioned, not only at Con-
stantinople, but throughout the provinces of the east and
west, especially when certain sermons were published by
Nestorius, asserting the heresy more distinctly. These
sermons were circulated among the monasteries of Egypt,
and were discussed among the monks.
St. Cyril, apprehensive that the error might take root,
wrote an encyclical letter to the monks of Egypt, wherein
he says that they would have done better wholly to have
refrained from questions of so great difficulty, and that
what he writes to them is intended, not to keep up the
dispute, but to arm them in defence of the truth. " I
wonder," says he, " how a question can be raised as to
whether the Holy Virgin should be called Mother of God ;
for if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, how is not the Holy
Virgin, His mother, Mother of God ? This is the faith
we have been taught by the Apostles, although they did
not make use of this expression ; it is the doctrine of our
fathers, among the rest of Athanasius, of blessed memory,"
2o2
^'8 CYRIL.
and he quotes two passages in support of his statement.
He next proves that He Who was born of the Holy Virgin
is God in His ow^n nature, since the Nicene Creed sajs
that the onl}^ begotten son of God, of the same substance
with the Father, Himself came down from heaven, and
w^as incarnate. He proceeds : " You will say, perhaps.
Is the Virgin, then, mother of the Divinity ? We answer.
It is certain that the Word is eternal, and of the sub-
stance of the Father. Now in the order of nature,
mothers, who have no part in the creation of the soul, are
still called mothers of the whole man, and not of the
body only;— for surely it would be a hypercritical refine-
ment to say Elizabeth is mother of the body of John
and not of his soul. In the same way, then, we express
ourselves in regard to the birth of Emmanuel ; t^ince
the Word having taken flesh upon Him, is called the Son
of Man."
Nestorius was extremely irritated by this letter, and
endeavoured to injure St. Cyril by suborning men to
calumniate and accuse him to himself and the Emperor.
St. Cyril wrote in vain to expostulate with Nestorius,
whose violence against his opponents exceeded all bounds*
and caused a petition to be presented to the Emperors
Theodosius and Valentinian to assemble a general coun-
cil. St. Cyril, hearing of these things, wrote a second
letter to Nestorius, in the year 430.
In this letter St. Cyril first observes that he is aware
of the calumnies with which he has been aspersed, and
that the authors of them are known to him ; but unwil-
ling to dwell on this ungrateful topic, he turns to
Nestorius himself and exhorts him, as his brother, to
reform his doctrine, and by giving in his adhesion to the
doctrine of the Fathers, to put an end to the offence he
had caused. He then enters upon an exposition of the
mystery of the Incarnation, and says, " We must admit
in the name of Christ two generations ; first, the eternal,
by which He proceeds from His Father ; second, the tern-
CYRIL. 379
poral, whereby He is born of His mother. When we say
that He suffered, and rose again, we do not say that God
the Word suffered in His own nature, for the Divinity
is impassible ; but because the body which was appro-
priated to Him suffered, we also say that He suffered
Himself. So too we say that He died. The Divine
Word is in His own nature immortal, He is life itself ;
but because His own true body suffered death, we say that
He Himself died for us. In the same way, when His
flesh is raised from the dead, we attribute resurrection to
Him. We do not say that we adore the man along with
the Word, lest the phrase along with should suggest the
idea of their non-identity ; but we adore Him as one and
the same person, because the body assumed by the Word
is in no degree external to or separated from the Word,"
And afterwards ; " It is in this sense that the Fathers
have ventured to call the tloly Virgin ' Mother of God ;'
not that the nature of the Word, or His Divinity, did
receive beginning of His existence from the Holy Virgin,
because in her was formed and animated with a reason-
able soul that sacred Body to which the Word united
Himself in hypostasis, which is the reason of its being
said that He was born according to the flesh." In the
course of this letter he frequently repeats the words
{■/My vTvoo-roLo-i)) Evajo-i?) 'union in hypostasis;' feeling the
inadequacy of the Greek word it^oarwTtov, which we ordi-
narily render ' person,' and which does not express the
idea of unity with sufficient strength. The first time
that we meet with the expression, ' hypostatical union,' is
in this letter, by far the most celebrated of all that
St. Cyril wrote to Nestorius.
It was probably about the same time and on the same
occasion that St. Cyril wrote to those of his clergy who
resided at Constantinople, commenting on the proposi-
tions of peace that were offered on the part of Nestorius.
" I have read the memorial you sent me," he says, " and
see from it that the priest Anastasius has been convers-
ing with you and pretending he seeks for peace, and that
380 CYKIL.
he said to jou, ' Our belief agrees with what he has
written to the monks;' and then proceeding to what he
really had in view, he says of me, ' He has himself ad-
mitted that the Nicene council nowhere makes mention
of the word Theotocos.' I wrote to say, that the council
did well not to mention it, because this matter was not
at that time a subject of controversy ; but in effect, it
does say that Mary is Mother of God ; since it says that
the same who was begotten of the Father, was incarnate,
and suffered." Afterwards, speaking of a writing of
Nestorius, he says, " He takes pains to prove that the
body alone suffered, and not God the Word; as if in
refutation of some who say that the impassible Word is
passible. No one has ever said anything so absurd.
His body having suffered, He is said to have suffered
Himself ; as we may say that the soul of man suffers
when his body suffers, even when, in strictness, the soul
is in its own nature free from suffering. But what they
wish to insinuate is, that there are two Christs, and two
sons, one properly man, the other properly God, and to
make a union only of persons, (Prosopwn) ; this is the
object of their chicanery."
There are several other letters of St. Cyril, in which he
expresses his readiness to defend himself in a general
council, but declares that instead of accepting Nestorius
as a judge, it was his intention to impeach him as a
heretic. He wrote also to the royal family, and to the
Bishop of Rome ; addressing the latter as his equal and
brother bishop, and seeking only from him that friendly
advice which he sought from other bishops of the larger
sees. Celestine, who was at that time Bishop of Rome,
agreed with St. Cyril in opinion, and gave him full
authority to refer to the Roman Church as agreeing with
the orthodox Churches of the East. Very different was
the treatment which St. Cyril received from another cele-
brated prelate, John of Antioch, who was the friend and
ally of Nestorius.
St. Cyril in this same year, 430, assembled a council
CYRIL. 381
at Alexandria, aad in the name of the council wrote a
synodicai letter to Xestorius, calling upon him to declare
in writing that he anathematized his impious tenets, and
that he would believe and teach " what we all of us
believe ; and when I say ice," he exclaimed, " I include
all the bishops of the East and West, and all who guide
the people. The holy council of Rome, and we, are all
agreed that the letters which have been written to you by
the Church of Alexandria are orthodox and free from
error." The reader will here observe, that he mentions
the Eastern before the Western church; and that he
refers not to the authority of the see of Rome, but to the
decisions of a council of that church, quoted simply to
shew that the Western church agreeing with the churches
of the East, there was universal consent as to the ortho-
doxy of the Alexandrian canons.
This letter concludes with twelve anathemas.
I. If any man confess not that Emmanuel is very
God, and consequently the Holy Virgin, Mother of God,
(since by her, according to the flesh, was conceived the
Word of God Who became flesh,) let him be anathema.
II. If any man confess not that the Word Which
proceeds from God the Father is united to the flesh
hypostatically, and that with His flesh He makes but
one only Christ, Who is both God and man, let him be
anathema.
III. If any one, after confessing the union, divide
the hypostases of the only Christ, joining them indeed
together, but only by a connection of dignity, authority, or
power, and not by a real union, let him be anathema.
» IV. If any attribute to two persons, or to two hypos-
tases, the things which the Apostles and Evangelists
relate, as spoken concerning Christ by the saints or by
Himself, and apply some to a man conceived of separately
as external to the Divine Word, and others (such as he
deems worthy of God) solely to the Word proceeding from
the Father; let him be anathema.
382 CYRIL.
V. If any dare to say that Christ is a id an who bears
God with Him, instead of saying that He is God indeed,
as only Son, and Son by nature, — inasmuch as the Word
was made flesh, and partook of flesh and blood, even as
we ; — let him be anathema.
VI. If any dare to say that the Word proceeding from
God the Father is the God or Lord of Jesus Christ, in-
stead of confessing that the same is entirely both God and
man, — since, according to the Scriptures, the Word was
made flesh ; — let him be anathema.
VII. If any man say that Jesus as man was possessed
by God the Word, and clothed with the glory of the only
Son, as if He were not identical with Him ; let him be
anathema.
VIII. If any dare to say that the man assumed by
the Word ought, along with the Word, to be glorified and
adored and called God, as if the one existed within the
other, (for this is the notion suggested by the perpetual
repetition of the phrase along with,) instead of honouring
Emmanuel with one entire adoration, and rendering to
Him one entire glorification, — forasmuch as the Word
was made flesh; — let him be anathema.
IX. If any say that our Lord Jesus Christ was glorified
by the Holy Ghost, as having received from Him a power
of acting against unclean spirits and working miracles
upon men, which was alien from Himself, instead of say-
ing that the Spirit by which he worked them belonged to
Him essentially ; let him be anathema.
X. Holy Scripture says that Jesus Christ was made
the High-Priest and Apostle of our faith, and that He
offered Himself for us to God the Father as a sweet smel-
ling sacrifice ; if any man therefore say that since the time
when our High-Priest and Apostle was made flesh and
man like us. He is not the Word of God but a man born
of a woman, as if this man were a diflerent person from
the Word : or if any say that Christ offered the sacrifice
for Himself, instead of saying, that it was solely for our
CYRIL. 383
sakes, (for He Who knew no sin stood in no need of any
sacrifice ;) let him be anathema.
XI. If any man confess not that the flesh of the Lord
gives Ufe, and belongs essentially to the Word Himself
Who proceeds from the Father, and attribute it to another
who is only joined to Him in respect of dignity, or by
virtue of a divine indwelling, instead of saying that
it gives life because it belongs essentially to the Word,
Who has the power of quickening all things ; let him be
anathema.
XII. If any man confess not that the Word of God
suffered according to the flesh, was crucified according to
the flesh, and was the first born among the dead, — foras-
much as He is life, and giveth life, as God; — let him be
anathema.
These are the twelve famous anathemas of St. Cyril
against all the heretical propositions advanced by
Nestorius.
Before this letter reached Constantinople, the Emperor
(not the pope) had convened a general council. At the
same time John of Antioch, a personal friend of Nestorius,
who had nevertheless entreated him to use the word
Theotokos, took offence at the twelve anathemas of St.
Cyril, thinking that they savoured of Apollinarianism,
and he employed Theodoret of Cyras, and Andrew of
Samosata to write against Cyril, who replied to both.
Immediately after the feast of Easter, St. Cyril set out
for Ephesus, the place at which the council was directed
to meet, accompanied by fifty bishops, nearly half of the
episcopate of his province, the other bishops remaining
behind to take care of the churches. x\t the same time
Nestorius repaired to Ephesus, with a great number of
troops and with some of the nobility. But John of An-
tioch with his bishops obliged the council, under various
pretences, to wait for them for a considerable time.
St. Cyril, while the assembled prelates were waiting for
John, preached, with his usual vehemence, and not always
384 CYRIL.
with discretion or good judgment, against Nestorius.
Acacius of Melitene preached on the same occasion and
in the same strain, to whose sermon allusion is here made
because he refers to " the cross which shines in front of
the churches." It seems evident from the silence of all
the writers of the three first centuries that crosses were
not then erected io churches. Eusebius, who frequently
describes the churches of Constantino, and others, never
once alludes to it, though he often mentions crosses set
up in other public places. From the fourth century
downward, it became more common ; partly, no doubt, in
consequence of Constantino's victory over Maxentius, and
the invention of the cross by Helena (a. d. 326). Sozomen
speaks of the cross as laid on the altar in his day, and
Evagrius speaks of silver crosses given by Chosroes to
one of the churches in Constantinople to be fixed upon
the altar.
John of Antioch sent to Cyril stating that if his arrival
should be delayed, the council need not on that account
be deferred, but should proceed with the necessary busi-
ness: and fifteen days having now elapsed beyond the
period fixed by the Emperor's letter for the assembling of
the council, St. Cyril and the rest of the bishops resolved
to hold the council on the 22d of June, 421, notwithstand-
ing a protest from Nestorius and sixty-eight bishops of
his party, who declared it to be incumbent upon them to
wait for John of Autioch, w^ho, though he held the catholic
faith, was, as we have before observed, friendly to Nes-
torius ; Nestorius had indeed come from Antioch, and
sentence of condemnation could hardly be passed upon
him without reflecting disgrace in some degree upon his
instructors. Candidian, also. Count of the Domestics, in-
terfered to prevent the opening of the council at the time
proposed, and went so far as to publish a protest against
their proceedings when assembled.
Nevertheless, on the day appointed, June 22, 431, the
third general council, the council of Ephesus, was opened.
St. Cyril presided in the right of the dignity of his see.
CYRIL. 385
There was, indeed, no one present to question his right ;
the patriarch of Antioch had not yet arrived, the patriarch
of Rome was not present, and the patriarch of Constanti-
nople was the part}^ arraigned. According to Balsamon,
Cyril, as " Pope of Alexandria," wore on this occasion a
golden diadem, such as Constantine had assigned to the
**Pope of Rome." Upon the episcopal throne of the
presiding bishop, which was in the centre of the apse, was
placed the New Testament to denote Christ's presence
among them : the other bishops were ranged in thrones
along the apse on each side of the president.
Nestorius, though summoned three times, refused to
attend, and being surrounded by troops supplied to him
by Candidian, he treated with contumely the bishops who
were sent from the council to summon him. The council
then proceeded to declare that the letter of St. Cyril to
Nestorius was conformable to theNicene doctrine and to the
doctrine they had received from their fathers. The letter of
Nestorius was read, the second which he wrote to St. Cyril;
and after several bishops had spoken declaring it to be
contrary to the Nicene doctrine, and accusing Nestorius
of introducing novelties, the other bishops all cried out
together, " Whosoever does not anatliematize Nestorius,
let him be anathema. The orthodox faith anathematizes
him, the holy council anathematizes him. Whoso com-
municates with Nestorius, let him be anathema. We all
anathematize the letter and doctrines of Nestorius. We
all anathematize the heretic Nestorius. Those who
communicate with Nestorius we all anathematize. We
anathematize the impious faith of Nestorius. All the
earth anathematizes his impious religion. Whosoever
does not anathematize him, let him be anathema."
Then, but not till then, the letter of Celestine, " Arch-
bishop of Rome" was read, and as his sentiments accorded
with those which had just been expressed by the council,
it was, with another of St. Cyril's, entered upon the
minutes, the name of Cyril appearing before that of Celes-
VOL. IV. 2 p
386 CYRIL.
tine. A letter was also entered upon the acts of the coun-
cil froro " another most revered metropolitan," Capreolus,
Bishop of Carthage, as it clearly asserted that the ancient
opinions concerning the faith ought to be maintained, and
the new to be rejected.
The depositions against Nestorius having been received
and his works having been examined, sentence of con-
demnation was pronounced against him in these terms :
" Nestorius having, among other things, refused to obej
our citation, and to receive the bishops who were sent on
our part, we have been obliged to proceed to an examinar
tion of his impieties ; and having convicted him, as well
by his letters as by his other writings, and by discourse*
which he lately held in this city, [duly attested,) of holding
and teaching impious doctrines ; being reduced to this
necessity by the canons, and by the letter of our most
holy father and colleague Celestine, Bishop of the Roman
Church ; after having shed many tears, we are agreed upon
this unhappy sentence. Our Lord Jesus Christ, Whom h&
hath blasphemed, has declared by this holy council that
he is deprived of the episcopal dignity, and excluded from
all ecclesiastical assemblies. Cyril, Bishop of i\.lexandria;
1 have subscribed to the judgment of the council. Juve-
nal, Bishop of Jerusalem, I have subscribed to tbe judg-
ment of the council." All the other bishops present sub-
scribed in the same way, to the number of one hundred
and ninety-eight Some called themsel